\ M9JAASTEKS 
PRIMARY 
HI STO RY 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES 

REVISED AND ENLARGED 





NEW YORK 
CINCINNATI • CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COAVPANY 




Gopyiight N° 1_J_XZ_S 

2POsrr. 



COPYRIGHT DEF 



A PRIMARY HISTORY 



OF 



THE UNITED STATES 



BY 



JOHN BACH McMASTER 

PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY IX THE UNIVERSITY 
OF PENNSYLVANIA 



REVISED AND ENLARGED 



^c 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 

BOSTON ATLANTA 



£77* 
./ 

IV1 



Copyright, 1901, 1919, r.v 
JOHN BACH McMASTER. 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London. 



Mi M Pr. H. 

K. P. 44 



OCT 25 1919 



(g)CI A 5:5 5 4 l>tf 



PREFACE 

This book has been written in the belief that a primary- 
history of the United States should be short, as interesting 
as possible, and well illustrated ; that it should be a narrative 
of events, not a series of biographical sketches ; that it should 
touch on all matters of real importance in the founding and 
building of our country; and that it should leave unnoticed 
such questions as are beyond the understanding of the pupils 
for whose use it is intended. Those who leave school after 
but one year's work in history will thus obtain a fair general 
knowledge of so much of our history as every American ought 
to be ashamed not to know, while those who pursue the study 
further will have made a good beginning. 

The illustrations are historically authentic. The reproduc- 
tions of the wooden plow, beehive, warming pan, corn sheller, 
Dutch scythe, and broadax are from the objects in the collec- 
tion of the Bucks County Historical Society at Doylestown, 
Pa., and are made by their authority. Such pictures are far 
more valuable than imaginary ones, and it is believed that in 
this book, as in the School History, they will be found to be 
more interesting. 

The pronunciation of difficult names is shown in the Index. 

JOHN BACH McMASTER. 
Philadelphia. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 
I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XX I If. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

Index , 



How Europeans found America . 
The Indians and their Way of Life 
The Spaniards in the South .... 

The French in the Valleys of the St. Lawrence 
Mississippi ...... 

The English in Virginia .... 

The English in New England 
Pioneer Life in New England 

The Middle Colonies 

The Southern Colonies ..... 

Shall France or England rule in America ? . 

Shall France or England rule in America ? {Continuei 

The Colonies quarrel with the Mother Country 

The Long Fight for Independence 

The Long Fight for Independence {Continued 

A Letter Government needed .... 

Trouble with France and Great Britain 

Building the West ...... 

The Question of Slavery begins to make Trouble . 
The Discovery of Gold and the Consequences 
The Slavery Question brings on Civil War . 
The War for the Union mi the Land 
The War for the Union on the Water . 
Rebuilding the Southern States .... 

The Rise of the New West ..... 

The Close of the Century 

The Events of Recent Years 







and the 




PRIMARY HISTORY 

CHAPTER I 

HOW .EUROPEANS FOUND AMERICA 

Four hundred and fifty years ago the people of western a new route 
Europe were getting silks, perfumes, shawls, ivory, spices, and needed 
jewels from southeastern Asia, then called the Indies. But the 
Turks were conquering the countries across which these goods 
were carried, and it seemed so likely that the trade would be 
stopped, that the merchants began to ask if somebody could 
not find a new way to the Indies. 

The King of Portugal thought he could, and began sending 
his sailors in search of a way around Africa, which extended 
southward, nobody knew how far. Year after year his ships 
sailed down the west coast, the last captain going further 
south than the one before him, till one of them at last reached 
the southern end of the continent and entered the Indian Ocean. 
But long before this man found the Cape of Good Hope, the 
merchants said the new route to the Indies would be too long, 

7 



HOW EUROPEANS FOUND AMERICA 



>v,. 




: 

ii h 






••Si ■ & !e 

1 




BBS 

- 





and asked the question, Can not 
somebody find a shorter way ? 
This question Christopher Colum- 
bus tried to answer. 

Columbus was born at Genoa, 
in Italy, and from boyhood was 
fond of the sea, fond of study, and 
especially fond of geography. When 
he was fourteen years old, he went 
to sea. Now, the more he traveled, 
and talked with sailors, and studied 
geography, the surer he became 
that the men who said the world is 
round were right. Very few people 
then believed this ; but Columbus 
did, and, believing it, he thought 
that he could reach the Indies by 
sailing westward over the ocean as 
well as by traveling eastward over 
the land. 

All this was clear enough to him; 
but it was hard to make others 
think as he did, and years passed 
before he succeeded. He went to 
Portugal; he sent his brother to 
England ; and he talked and argued 
for eight years in Spain before Queen 
Isabella agreed to help him. Grit, 
self-reliance, and perseverance won 
at last, and he set out for the little 
town of Palos, in Spain, with orders 
for ships and sailors. 



HOW EUROPEANS FOUND AMERICA 



9 



When it was known at Palos what the Queen's orders were, Columbus 
there was almost a riot. The Atlantic Ocean, on which Colum- saifwest* 
bus was to sail — an ocean which is now crossed every year 
by thousands of men, women, and children, — was then almost 
unknown. Men called it the "Sea of Darkness." Little won- 
der, then, that the people of Palos were dis- 
mayed when they heard that they must 
furnish ships and sailors to explore 
this dreaded ocean. But the royal 
order must be obeyed, and so the 
officers of Palos set about the 
matter. Prisoners were set 
free from jail if they would 




agree to go with Columbus. 
Other men had debts for- 
given them, or suits at law 
stopped, if they too would go. 

Three small ships or car- 
avels were seized without 
the owners' consent. In the 
largest, called the Santa Maria, 
Columbus went. Another was 
the Pinta. The smallest was called 
the Nina, which means Baby. On board the 
three were exactly ninety men. 

Just before sunrise one summer morning, the little fleet set The voyag< 
sail on the greatest voyage of discovery made by man. All 
sorts of terrors filled the minds of the sailors. When they were 
at the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa, a volcano burst 
into eruption, and they were sure this was a sign of bad luck. 
When the last of the Canaries disappeared behind them, they 
wept and wailed as if their hearts would break. Then the 



Santa Maria 



10 



HOW EUUOl'KANS FOUND AMERICA 



compass needle began to act queerly, and they were sure it was 
bewitched. Next the wind for days blew from the east, and 
they were sure they would never be able to sail home against 




Painting bij K 



Departure of Columbus 



it. But Columbus calmed their fears, explained the sights they 
did not understand, hid from them the true distance they had 
sailed, and went calmly on. 

At last signs of land began to appear. Now a tuft of grass ; 
now some seeds ; now a branch with some berries on it ; now a 
piece of wood cut and carved by a human hand, floated by. 
Then land birds flew over the ship. Finally, one night in 
October, Columbus saw a light moving, as if somebody were 
running along shore with a torch. Next a sailor saw land dis- 
tinctly, and then all saw a long, low beach a few miles distant. 
Columbus thought he had reached one of the islands of the 
Indies, and early the next morning went on shore, and in the 



HOW EUKUFEAJS1S 1UUMD AMEK1CA 



11 



presence of his men took possession of the island in the name claims the 
of the King and Queen of Spain, and called it San Salvador, s s j\ n n 
which means Holy Savior. 

At the sight of the Spaniards in their glittering steel 
armor and bright-colored clothes, the natives fled to the woods; 
but finding no harm was done them, they soon gathered about 
the strangers, gazed at them in wonder, and at last grew bold 
enough to touch the whiskers, hands, and faces of the new- 
comers. The natives seemed nearly as strange to the Span- The native 
iards. Their straight 
black hair, naked copper- 
colored bodies painted, 
some black, some white, 
some red, told Colum- 
bus at once that he had 
found a people quite 
unlike the curly-headed, 
black negroes of Africa, 
and made him feel sure 
that he was near the 
island of Cipango, a 
part of the long-sought 
Indies. 

The day of this dis- 
covery was October 12, 
1492, and the island 
was one of a group we 
know as the Bahamas. 

After giving the people red caps, glass beads, hawk's bells, and 
other trinkets, and receiving in return parrots, and balls of 
cotton yarn, Columbus set sail to explore, and reached the g^™* 
coast of the island we call Cuba. A month and more was now island 




"Columbus Point 
{First land seen by Columbus, WJ2) 



12 



tiUW kUKUi'kAJNS FUUJN1J AMEK1CA 




Armor of Columbus 



spent sailing" along its shores. The Spaniards 
landed here and there to seek for gold, and on 
one occasion Columbus sent a party of men into 
the interior to search for a great city and a 
king who ate from dishes of gold. But the 
explorers found instead little villages of palm 
huts, from which the people fled as they ap- 
proached. 

At this stage of the voyage, Pinzon, the 
captain of the Pinta, deserted Columbus and 
sailed away to seek for gold on his own account. 
Columbus, however, went on along the coast of Cuba to the 
eastern end and soon beheld another island, whose beauty so 
reminded him of Spain that he named it Hispaniola, or " Little 
Spain." 

And now another disaster befell him, for while off Hispan- 
iola, or Haiti, the Santa Maria, with Columbus on board, was 
- r wrecked, and the crew were forced to go 

^ '" ; - .^ on shore. The natives were so kind, 

K^ and the life of idleness so enjoy- 
/ v able, that when the time came for 

Columbus to go back to Spain 
the sailors begged to be left 
\ behind. Some were left in 
\ charge of a rude fort, and so 
k became the first colony of Span- 
71 iards in the New World, though 
they were soon killed. 

The voyage home in the 

Returns to Nina was a stormy one : again and again the little ship seemed 

Spaln about to sink, but in time it reached Palos in safety, and 

Columbus became the hero of the hour. Crowds followed 




Kind of huts Columbus saw 



BOW EUROPEANS EULUMD AMERICA 



ia 




Columbus thought he had reached the Indies 

him wherever he went; the King and Queen received him 
with great honor at court, listened eagerly to all he said, and 
gave him great power over the lands he had discovered or 
might discover ; and he was promptly sent on a second voyage 
to the west. 

In all, Columbus made four voyages, discovered Jamaica, 




But a continent blocked the way to the Indies 



14 



H<)W EURUl'EANS FOUND AMERICA 



Porto Rico, the islands of the Caribbean 
Sea, and even reached the coast of South 
America, and sailed along the shores of 
Honduras and the Isthmus of Panama. 
But the fact that he had discovered a 
new world, that a great continent 
blocked his way to India, never en- 
tered his mind. He thought he had 
reached Asia and some islands off the 
coast of Asia, and so the lands were 
called the Indies, and the inhabitants 
Indians. Long afterwards, when his 
mistake was found out, these islands were 
named West Indies, and those near Asia 
East Indies. 

statue of Columbus, As soon as Columbus had shown the 

way, others were quick to follow, and the 

Explorers new coasts were visited by Spaniards, Portuguese, Frenchmen, 




Columbus 



and Englishmen. Notice what then happened : 



Results of 
exploration 



1. These explorations proved that not the coast of Asia, but 

a new world, had been found. This was called America, 
after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian who explored the 
coast of South America for the King of Portugal. 

2. "When it was shown that a continent blocked the way to 

Asia, a search was begun for a passage through or 
around it. 

3. In the course of this search, first for a southwest passage, 

and then for a northwest passage, the coast of America 
was still further explored. 

4. These explorations gave Spain, France, England, and Hol- 

land claims to parts of what is now our country. 



HOW EUROPEANS FOUND AMERICA 



L5 




Painting by R. Bataca 



Reception of Columbus. at Barcelona 



SUMMARY 

1. Four hundred and fifty years ago the people of western Europe were 

trading with the East Indies. 

2. The Turks began to cut off this trade, and the merchants of Europe 

needed a new route to the East. 

3. Columbus (1492) set off from Spain to find this route by sailing west- 

ward across the Atlantic. 

4. He landed on one of the Bahama islands, discovered Cuba and Haiti, and 

claimed them for Spain. 

5. Columbus having shown the way, other explorers followed him. 

6. After many years they proved that not India, but a great continent 

blocking the way to India, had been discovered. 

7. Then came attempts to find away around it, which resulted in the explo- 

ration of the Atlantic coast of North and South America. 



lti 



T11K INDIANS AND THEIR WAY OF LIFE 




CHAPTER II 
THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAY OF LIFE 

When the first white men came to our shores, 
they found the country thinly inhabited by the 

people Columbus had named Indians. They had 

copper-eolored skin, coarse, jet-black hair, high 

cheek bones, thick lips, small eyes, and no 

whiskers. For a long time it was believed 

that in their wars with the whites they had 

become greatly reduced in number. But this is 

not the case. There are . quite as many liv- 



Indian warrior 



ing in the United States 
lived in the same terri- 
dred and fifty years ago, the In- 
all over the country, from the 
Now few dwell east of the 
great mass are far to 
greatly changed their 
learned to live like 
The Indians 
near the east coast 
nor a metal knife, 
mals and one stone 




yr 



to-day as then 

tory. Two hun 

dians were scattered 

Atlantic to the Pacific. 

Mississippi River ; the 

the west of it. All have 

mode of life, and many have 

white men. 

" whom the early settlers met 

had never seen a gun, nor a sword, 

nor an ax. They killed ani- 

another with stone tomahawks 



or hatchets, arrowhead an( J stone- or bone-tipped 
arrows which they shot from wooden bows. As 
they knew nothing of iron or steel or brass, all 
their tools were made from wood or stone or 
the bones of animals. Thus, out of fish bones, 
they made fishhooks and needles, and out of flint, 
knives and hatchets. 




Bone fishhook 



THE INDIANS AND T11E1K WAY OF L1J E 



17 




Making a birch-bark canoe 



In the northern part of our country, where birch trees 
were abundant, they made canoes of birch bark, sewing it 
together with strips of deerskin, and covering the seams with 
spruce tree gum to make them watertight. In the South they 
used trunks of great trees hollowed out by fire. 

Along the Atlantic seaboard the country was heavily Food 
wooded, and in the woods 
there were plenty of 
deer, elk, bears, foxes, 
wolves, and small ani- 
mals, which the Indians ugou 
hunted and killed for food. West of the Appalachian Moun- 
tains was the region of the great treeless prairies, over which 




MCM. PE. H. 



18 



THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAY OF LIFE 




Snowshoe 



The 

bark house 



The 
wigwam 



roamed immense herds of bison or buffalo, whose meat, 
shaggy hair, and hides served the redskins for many 
purposes. The meat was dried and kept for food, 
the hair was woven into cloth or twisted into 
ropes, and the hide was tanned and cut into ropes 
or worn as a blanket. The sea or the rivers sup- 
plied fish, beavers, and otters, and in the woods 
were found wild turkeys, and berries and other fruits. 
Besides food obtained by hunting and fishing, many 
tribes raised Indian corn, beans, pumpkins, and 
squashes. They also raised tobacco. Their onl) 
domestic animal was the dog. 

A tribe was a number of Indians speaking the 
same language, and generally spread over a wide 
region. Each tribe was divided into smaller groups 
living in villages, which were often surrounded by 
high stockades or fences for purposes of defense. Within such 
walls there were either long houses of bark, in each of which 
a dozen or more families lived together; 
or wigwams, in which single families 
dwelt. 

A wigwam was usually made by thrust- 
ing thin poles into the ground in a circle 
and bending the tops together and tying 
them. Over the poles were then placed 
bark or the skins of animals, especially 
buffalo hide. On the ground in the 
middle of the wigwam was the fire, 
the smoke of which went out 
through a hole in the top 
which served as a chimney. 
Matches being unknown, 





\ 



buffalo-skin wigwam 



THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAY OF LIFE 



19 




Clay bowl 




Wooden dish 



the Indian lighted his fire by pressing a pointed stick against Fire and 
a piece of wood and making it turn around rapidly. To give cook,n * : 
it this motion he would take a little bow, wrap the string once 
around the stick, and move the bow quickly back and forth till 
the heat produced by the revolving stick set fire to the wood. 

Over the fire 
thus made, the In- 
dian women would 
broil fish laid across 
sticks raised above 
the flame, and in the 
ashes would roast corn, squashes, or sweet potatoes. Such as 
knew how to make clay pots would put them on the fire and 
boil meat and vegetables in them. Such as used wooden vessels 
filled them with water and threw in hot stones till the water 
was hot enough to cook whatever they wished. Indian corn 
when dried was pounded into meal, mixed with water, and 
baked in the ashes. 

Neither men nor women wore much clothing. Deerskin clothing 
moccasins or shoes embroidered with shell 
beads and quills of the porcupine, deerskin 
leggings (in winter), a strip of deerskin 
about the waist, and a deerskin cloak 
over the shoulders completed the dress 
of the men in northern parts. The 
women wore deerskin aprons and beaver- 
skin mantles. In the South mantles were woven from a plant 
called silk grass. About the neck as ornaments were claws of 
bears, eagles, or hawks, and strings of beads made from sea- 
shells and called wampum. This wampum was highly prized 
and was used not only for ornament, but also as money, and 
was woven into belts to be given as presents when treaties 




Moccasins 



20 



I'llK 1.ND1AKS AJNL» T11E1K WAY OF L1FK 



What the 
men did 



were made. Indeed, for many years after the colonies 
were founded, the white settlers used wampum as money. 
The duty of the Indian man, or "brave," was to 
hunt, fish, and fight. He would make arrows, bows, 
canoes, and stone tools, but he thought any other kind 
of work was beneath him. No young Indian was of 
any importance till he had killed an enemy and brought 
home the scalp ; and the more scalps he brought 
home, the greater " brave " he was thought to be. 
As the scalp was the proof of victory, each warrior 
wore a scalp lock as a challenge to 
his enemies, and defended it with 
his life. The lock was made 
by shaving the hair close except 
on the crown of the head, where 
it was allowed to grow long, and 
was ornamented with feathers. 
The Indian's way of fighting was 
to the white man dishonorable. The 
fair and open fight had no charm for the 
redskins. To their minds it was the height 
of folly to kill an enemy at the risk of 
their own lives, when they might shoot the 
foe from behind a tree, or waylay him in Wampum 
Manner of ambush as he hurried along a forest trail, or at the 
fighting d ea( j f night rouse their sleeping victims with the hideous 
war whoop and kill them in cold blood. The Indians were 
very skillful in laying an ambush, that is, in hiding themselves 
so that they could attack the enemy when he did not expect 
it. Digging up the hatchet meant preparing for war. Going 
on the warpath meant waging war. Burying the hatchet 
meant making peace. 




A warrior's 
scalp lock 



THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAY OF LIFE 



21 




Squaw carrying 
papoose 



Labor of all sorts was done by the women, or what the 
"squaws." They planted and pounded the corn, ^J£° a "J 
brought the water, dressed the skins, made 
the clothing, and, when the band traveled from 
one place to another, carried the household 
goods and belongings. 

Taking care of the children, or " papooses," 
was a simple matter. Till a child was old 
enough to run about, it was carefully 
wrapped up in skins and tied to a wicker 
framework, and hung up on the branch 
of a tree, or leaned against the trunk, or car- 
ried on the mother's back. Once able to go 
alone, the boys were taught to shoot with 
arrows at a mark, to fish, and to make stone 
arrowheads and tools ; and the girls, to weave, 
make pottery and baskets, and do all the things they would be 
expected to do as squaws or wives of the braves. 

In the eastern part of our country, all along the seaboard, Indians in t 
the Indians lived in villages and wandered 
about very little. Hunting parties and war 
parties traveled great distances, but each tribe 
had its home. Thus the Massachusetts dwelt 
along the east coast of onr state of 
Massachusetts; the Pequots, in east- 
ern Connecticut ; and the Iroquois, 
in central New York. So it was in 
the Ohio valley. But on the great 
plains of the Northwest the Indians were 
wanderers, having no fixed homes, but 
roving the plains with their women, chil- 
dren, and all their belongings. Papoose 




22 



THE INDIANS AND THE1K WAY OF LLFE 



Indians in In the far Southwest, where are now Arizona and New 

southwest ]VTexico, dwelt still another sort of Indians. They did not 
live in wigwams of skin, or huts of bark, but in great fort- 
like houses of adobe, or sun-baked clay. These houses the 
Spaniards called pueblos, a word meaning villages or towns, 
for they were really huge hotels in each of which lived the 
people of a whole village. Some were two, some were four 
and one seven stories high. The second story was set back 
from the first, the third from the second, and the fourth from 
the third, thus leaving in front of each story a broad space like 
a street. There were no doors. The Indians climbed by 

ladders from story to story, and 
entered the pueblo through holes 
in the roofs of the different 
stories. 

Many of the pueblos which 
were standing when the 
white man first saw these 
Indians, more than three 
hundred years ago, have 
since then crumbled away. 
But the Indians of to-day 
still live in the same sort of 
houses, little changed in appear- 
ance. Several such pueblos may be 
seen in the southwestern part of our 
country. Now, these houses have doors ; but 
the Indians still go from story to story by lad- 

Zufii woman making J ? J a t A 

pottery ders. Now, the Indians have nocks and nerds, 

obtained of course from the Spaniards, who first 

brought horses, hogs, and cows to our country. They raise 

corn, wheat, barley, and fruit, make pottery, spin and weave 




THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAY OF LIFE 



23 




A pueblo 

cloth, and make baskets. Yet they are the same kind of 
Indians that the Spaniards met when they first entered the 
land that is now the United States. 



SUMMARY 

J. When Columbus discovered America he thought he was on the coast of 
the Indies, and called the inhabitants Indians. 

2. At that time they lived all over our country ; now most of them live in 

the West. 

3. They knew nothing of iron and steel, and made their hatchets, knives, 

fishhooks, etc., out of stone or bones, and their canoes of bark or tree 
trunks. 

4. They lived by hunting, fishing, and growing Indian corn, beans, pumpkins, 

and squashes. West of the Appalachian Mountains were many buf- 
faloes, which the Indians hunted. 



24 



THE SPANIARDS IN THE SOUTH 



5. Horses, cows, sheep, and pigs were unknown to the Indians. They had 

dogs, and wild turkeys from which our tame turkeys are descended. 

6. Most of the labor was done by the squaws. The braves did little else 

than hunt, fish, and fight. 

7. The Indians in the eastern part of our country did not wander much : 

but the Indians of the plains were rovers. 

8. In the Southwest were the Pueblo Indians. 



CHAPTER III 



Ponce de 
Leon's 

6earch 



THE SPANIARDS IN THE SOUTH 

The Spaniards following in the track of Columbus took 
possession of Cuba and Haiti, Porto Rico, and the other West 
Indies, and sent explorers from these islands (map, p. 43). 

One of these Spaniards, Ponce de Leon, got it into his head, 
from something the Indians told him, that on an island to the 

northward was a fountain of 

youth, and that whoever drank of 

its waters would never grow old. 

Nothing would do but he must 

find it, and with his king's 




leave he accordingly set 
out from Porto Rico. On 
Easter Sunday, which in 
Spanish is Pascua Florida, 
he came in sight of a coast 
which, in memory of that 
day, has ever since been 

Discovers called Florida. He landed near the present town of St. 

Florida Augustine, and, not finding his fountain of youth, turned 
back. Later he tried again, but the Indians drove him off. 



Spanish treasure ships 



THE SPANIARDS IN THE SOUTH 



25 



He called it the ™ k8 for 

gold 



I 







\ 1 



Spanish soldier 



Another Spaniard, while sailing along the coast of the Gulf Narvaez 
of Mexico, entered the Mississippi River. 
River of the Holy Spirit, and brought back such 
wondrous stories of the Indians and their gold orna- 
ments that a third Spanish soldier, named Narvaez, 
sailed from Spain to occupy the country which 
seemed so rich in gold. With several hundred Ag? 
reckless followers at his back, he landed on 
the west coast of Florida, and, leaving his 
ships, marched inland. 

But as he pushed on through the woods 
and swamps, food grew scarce and some of 
his men died of hunger. Hostile Indians 
shot others from behind trees and bushes. 
Swamps, lakes, and many streams made prog- 
ress slow, and more soldiers died of fevers. 
At last the army, with ranks thinned by hunger, sickness, and 
fights with the red men, turned back and reached the coast 
far to the west of their ships. 

By dint of great labor five rude boats were made and launched, Meets 
and in these what was left of the band put to sea and went 
westward. But their sufferings at sea were as great as on 

land. Storms scattered and 
wrecked the boats. Two 
of them with all on board 
went down. The others 
crossed the mouth of the 
Mississippi where it rushes 
into the Gulf, and were 
driven on what the explor- 
ers called, truly enough, Misfortune Island. 

There they passed the winter, and in the spring those who 




26 



THE SPANIARDS IN THE SOUTH 



Vaca 
in Texas 



were still alive, sixteen in number, determined to escape. But 
when the time came to go, several were too sick to move and 
were left behind. The rest reached the mainland somewhere 
in Texas, and all save three were slain by the Indians. Of 
the men left on the island one died, another disappeared, and 
another, named Vaca, lived six horrible years among the 
Indians. He was passed about from tribe to tribe. He was 
sometimes a slave, sometimes an outcast, always a nuisance 
to the poor savages. He could not be a warrior because he 
was too weak. He could not gather wood or draw water be- 
cause none but women did such things. He could not hunt 
because he did not know how to track animals. He could 
walk, however, and would wander off and trade with the 
northern Indians. He would take shells and shell beads from 
the seashore tribes and exchange them for skins, red clay, and 

flint with the northern 
inland tribes. 

In the course of 
these trading trips 
Vaca saw "hunchback 
cows." They were the 
bison or buffalo then roaming 
by millions over the plains, and 
- he was the first European to 
see them. But he also heard of his 
three companions, and at last found 
them. These four wretched beings, 
all that were left of the many whom 
Narvaez had led in search of gold 
and conquest, then tried to escape 
from the Indians. After several months, led by Vaca, they 
succeeded, and set out toward the west. Their way was across 







Buffalo 



THE SPANIARDS IN THE SOUTH 



27 



Texas, and 



as 




they went on from tribe to tribe, they wanders 



noticed that the Indians they met were 

more and more civilized. The tribes on 

the coast were wanderers, living on roots, 

berries, and fish, and had little clothing. 

Far back from the coast, the Indians 

^ dwelt in sod houses, raised beans and 

pumpkins, and wore cotton clothes 

which they washed with a soapy 

root. 

Once the four Spaniards met 
a native with the buckle of a 
sword belt hung around his neck, 
who told them of white men like 
themselves. Then they met a 
band of Spaniards, and aided by 
them pushed on till they came to 
the west coast of Mexico, and wandering down the shores of 
the Gulf of California, reached a Spanish town. They had 
walked across our continent from the Gulf of Mexico to the 
Gulf of California. 

When the Spanish ruler 
of Mexico heard the wonder- 
ful story of Vaca, he sent 
another explorer, Brother 
Marcos, to find out more 
about the country of which 
Vaca had so much to tell. 
As Marcos trudged along 
he came to an Indian village 
where he was told of seven The buffalo as the Spaniards drew him 

Wonderful Cities with houses (From an old print) 



Spanish aimor 




28 



THE SPANIARDS IN THE SOUTH 



Coronado 
in the 
Southwest 



of stone. Following the directions given, he started off, and 
on the western edge of New Mexico came upon the seven 
pueblos of Zufii. 

A pueblo, as we have said, was a very large house of adobe 
or sun-baked clay, several stories high, and holding a great 
many people. Some pueblos were high forts big enough to hold 
an entire tribe. Some were built on the plains; others were 
perched on cliffs that rose high above the plain. 

But Marcos had no more than a glimpse of one of them; 
for the Zufii killed one of his party there, and he hurried 
back home. What he saw was enough to make others want 
to see more. All the reckless and adventure-loving spirits 
were eager to conquer this wonderful country with its seven 
cities. So the governor of Mexico sent them off under Coro- 



nado with orders 



went 



and never come back until 
wonderful towns. Marcos 
Working their way on foot 
across the great dry 
plains, the party came 
to the Zuni pueblos 
and captured them, 
and then sent out men 
to visit the towns near 

by- 

One of these parties 
came to a "sky city" 
called Acoma, perched on the summit of a lofty mass of rock 
whose sides rise like the walls of a room for three hundred and 
fifty feet above the level plain. There was only one entrance, 
by a kind of stairway, and at the top of this was a great pile 
of huge stones ready to be rolled down on the heads of any 
enemy who might attempt to climb up. Not very far away on 




Zuni woman weaving a belt 



THE SPANIARDS IN THE SOUTH 



2y 




the plain was a town, or fort, which had seven stories, and 
near this another, of four stories, now in ruins. 

Winter coming on, the Spaniards marched to what was then 
a pueblo, but is now a pretty village on the Rio Grande 
in New Mexico, and there passed the winter. 

When spring came, Coronado set off north- 
eastward in search of a land which the Indians 
told him was rich in gold. In his search he 
wandered across the dry plains into what 
is now Kansas. He crossed miles and miles 
of sun-baked plains with scarcely a tree on 
them ; he saw thousands and thousands of 
buffalo ; he met bands of fierce roaming Indi- 
ans ; but he found no city and no gold, and 
went back disheartened to Mexico, where the 
governor, angry at his return, punished him. 

In the West the Spaniards had thus explored 
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and had reached Kansas. 

While Coronado and his men were searching for a golden De Soto 
city on the plains of the Southwest, De Soto was making a like southeast 
search in the swamps and forests of the South. Landing in 
Florida, he led his men across Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and 
Mississippi to the Mississippi River, crossed it, and somewhere 
on the western bank died of fever. His followers buried him 
at night in the great river, and, having built boats as quickly 
as possible, floated downstream to the Gulf of Mexico, and 
coasted westward along Texas to Mexico. 

The death of De Soto on the Mississippi and the return of claims of 
Coronado to Mexico took place just fifty years after the dis- pain 
covery of the New World by Columbus. What had the 
Spaniards done in our country during this half century ? 
Ponce de Leon, De Soto, and others had explored the country 



A Mexican Indian 



30 



THE SPANIARDS IN THE SOUTH 



from Florida to the Mississippi ; and Coronado and other 
Spaniards had marched over much of the land in the South- 
west. By right of discovery and exploration, Spain thus 
secured a claim to all the southern part of our country. But 

as yet the Spaniards 
had not founded a 
city nor a town nor 
so much as a village 
anywhere within the 
limits of what is now 
our country ; and 
many years went by 
before they began to 
build the first towns, 
— St. Augustine in 
Florida and Santa Fe 
The oldest house in Santa F6 in New Mexico. 




SUMMARY 

1. The Spaniards, having taken possession of Cuba, Haiti, and Porto Rico, 

began to explore the mainland. 

2. Ponce de Leon discovered and named Florida, but was driven out by the 

Indians. A little later Narvaez led an army into Florida, but was 
driven out, and sailing westward, was wrecked ; soon only four of his 
men were left alive. 

3. These four made a wonderful march across the continent from the Gulf 

of Mexico to the Gulf of California. 

4. After hearing their story, the governor of Mexico sent out an explorer 

who discovered the Zuiii pueblos. This expedition was followed by 
the more remarkable one of Coronado. 

5. De Soto and his men wandered from Florida northwestward and dis- 

covered the Mississippi River. 

6. All this gave Spain a claim to what is now the southern part of the 

United States. 



THE FRENCH IN THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 



31 



CHAPTER IV 

THE FRENCH IN THE VALLEYS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE AND 

THE MISSISSIPPI 






w 



The time was now at hand when, 
in addition to Spain, another European 
nation was to lay claim to parts of our 
country. 

Very soon after Columbus made his 
famous voyage, the fishermen of the west 
coast of France crossed the Atlantic in 
search of new fishing grounds. Sailing 
westward, they came to the shores of 
Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence (map, p. 43), and found that the 
sea there was full of codfish. 

A great fishing industry grew up, and 
year after }^ear little fleets of fishing boats 
went back and forth between France and 
America. While the Spaniards were hunt- 
ing for gold mines and a fountain of youth, the French were French 
catching codfish, which readily sold for gold in the Old World shene8 
markets. They had found a real ^^ gold mine in the sea. 




Costume of a French 
gentleman 



For a time France Early French gun 

made no attempt to 

explore America ; she could not, however, long remain 

inactive while every year added to the possessions and 

glory of Spain, so at last a great French sailor, named Cartier, 

was sent to find a northwest passage to the Indies. 



32 



TIIE FRENCH IN THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 



Cartier 
discovers the 
St. Lawrence 




The Indian 
village 



Following the way taken by the French fisher- 
men, he sailed north of the island of Newfound- 
land, crossed the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and entered 
the river of the same name. Going up this 
river, he came to the cliffs now crowned by the 
city of Quebec, and found them occupied by a few 
bark cabins. The Indians who lived there were 
delighted to see the French, and told them of a 
greater town far up the river ; but urged them 
not to go on. 

Cartier, however, with a few sailors in small 
boats, went on till he came near the spot where now 
stands the city of Montreal. There he beheld 
crowds of Indians, who danced, and sang, and 
Indian bow, arrows, paddled out to greet him in canoes loaded with 

and quiver QQm ^ g^ 

Led by the delighted red men, Cartier and his band landed 
and marched through the dense forest to a clearing, where, in 
the midst of cornfields, stood the Indian village. Around it 
was a high fence or stockade of tree trunks. 

Passing through the narrow entrance, the French found 
themselves in an open 
space surrounded by 
long houses of bark, 
from which women 
and children came in 
crowds. They touched 
the whiskers of the 
men, and felt their 
faces and their strange 
armor. 

Then the women 




UUSSX 



Indian long house of bark 



THE FRENCH IN THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 



33 




Quebec 

{From an old print) 



and children were pushed aside, and the lame, the old, and the 
blind were brought to be touched and healed by the white 
strangers, whom the Indians thought to be gods 

After an exchange of presents, Cartier 
sailed back to the site of Quebec, and in 
the early summer of the next year 
went home to France. Because of 
this voyage up the St. Lawrence, the 
French King now claimed the country 
round about that river, and made some 
attempts to settle it. But one after 
another they failed, until, after many 
years, Champlain sailed up the St. Lawrence River and founded champiam 
Quebec (1608). He made friends with the neighboring Indi- q™** c 
ans, who, when they saw the wonderful things the French could 
do with their guns, begged him to go with them to fight the 
Iroquois Indians, who lived in what is now central New York. 

So with them Champlain went to the lake which now bears 
his name, and there one night beheld in the distance a mass 
of dark moving objects which he knew to be canoes filled 

with the foe. 

The Iroquois at Champlain 

once made for the "**;• 
shore and passed 
the night in putting 
up such rude de- 
fenses as they could. 
In the morning the 
Canadian Indians 
landed and marched 
into the forest till 
they came near their 




Defeat of the Iroquois at Lake Champlain 
(From an old print) 

MOM. PR. H. 3 



34 



THE FRENCH IN THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 




Early French pistol 



Hatred of 
Iroquois 



enemy. Champlain then advanced, and fired his mnsket. The 
woods rang with the report. One chief fell dead, and another 
rolled on the ground wounded. 
Then arose, says Champlain, a 
yell like a thunderclap, and the 
air was full of whizzing arrows. 
But when another and another 
gunshot came from the bushes, the Iroquois fled like deer. 
They had never seen nor heard a musket before, and did not 
understand what it was. They only knew that it suddenly 
made a terrible noise and smoke and that at the same time one 
or more of their men fell down dead or wounded. 

The musket of the white man had done its work. The 

victory was won, but it made 



... ■ ■ 



hate the 







:ra 



%0*$ 






the Iroquois 
French for many years 
afterward. These Indi- 
ans lived in the region 
south of Lake Ontario 
and were the fiercest and 
most powerful tribes in America. 
Because of the hatred of the Iroquois, 
the French never made settlements 
south of Lake Ontario ; but pushed 
their explorations westward across Canada 
to Lake Huron and beyond. 

First of French explorers went brave 
Catholic priests and missionaries. With cru- 
French priests journeying c ifix, Bible, and altars on their backs, they 

through the wilderness n i .1 i n j i si j 

walked through forests and paddled up 

French rivers where no white man had been before, building bark 

chapels in the woods, and trying to teach and convert the 



THE FRENCH IN THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 



35 




French soldier 



natives. The Indians were often hostile and some- 
times treated the missionaries with great cruelty, 

even burning them to death; but neither these 

savage foes nor the cold of winter, neither 

hunger nor the hardships of the wilderness, 

could stop the brave and devoted priests. 
For half a century after the founding of 

Quebec, French settlers came to Canada but 

slowly. Then the King of France, deeply in- 
terested in the welfare of Canada, began to send 

over at least three hundred men a year. By 

and by shiploads of young women came, that 

every unmarried man might have a wife. 

The life of an early colonist was a hard one. 

His home was a log hut. His food and that of 

his family was such vegetables as he could Early French 
raise on the little piece of land he had settlers 
cleared of trees, such game as he could kill, 
and eels, fresh in the summer, but smoked 
and dried in winter. During the long, cold 
season of ice and snow he cut timber and 
made planks and shingles which he ex- 
changed at Quebec for clothing and other 
articles he must have, as powder, bullets, 
tools. 

Besides encouraging farming, the gov- The fur trade 
ernment tried to get more people engaged 
in fishing for cod and in catching whales. 
But the only sort of trade that really flour- 
ished in Canada was the trade with the 
Indians for furs. Everybody wanted to 
buy and sell beaver skins. Each year a 




Costume of French 
woman 



36 



THE FRENCH IN THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 




Flintlock pistol and powder horn 



Coureurs de 
bois 



great fair was held at Montreal to which the Indians came 
by the hundred from the western lakes in their bark canoes. 
Merchants from Quebec and Mont- 
real would arrange their goods 
along the outside of the palisades, 
and their bright-colored cloth, 
beads, blankets, kettles, and knives 
were exchanged for beaver skins. 

All these merchants had to 
obey the orders of the King's officers ; and the officers used 
their power unfairly, and so got nearly all the profits of the 
fur trade. Numbers of hardy young men, therefore, took to 
the woods and traded with the Indians far beyond the reach 
of the officers. In hope of stopping this, the 
governor forbade any one to trade with the 
savages in the forest unless he had permission, 
which he must buy from the governor. Some 
merchants obeyed, and paid the price. But 
the young men went on trading as before. By 
so doing they became outlaws, and if caught, 
might be whipped and marked with a red-hot 
iron. But they were not often caught, for 
they lived with the Indians, and seldom went 
near the white settlements. They were called 
wood rangers, or coureurs de bois. They built 
forts at many places in the West and North- 
west. One of these early forts was at Detroit. 
But their great meeting place, and the center 
of the beaver trade, was a mission station on 
t lie Strait of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan 
Missions joins Lake Huron. From there, in twoc and threes, they would 
and forts Be j. f or {. n an( j roam th e f orests, trapping beaver. 




Wood ranger 



THE FRENCH IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 



37 



Great Lakes 



stantly remind us 

- 4- 



The wood rangers often married Indian women, and this 
went a. long way to make the Indians of the Northwest friendly 
toward the French. The English, on the other hand, fought the 
Indians and did not marry into their tribes. 

As the priests and traders went further and further westward, French on ti 
they planted trading posts, stockaded forts, and mission 
stations along the shores of Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, 
and Lake Superior, and explored all the country 
round about. Our Central States are covered with 
French names, which con- 
that France once owned a 
great part of our country. 1 

When, in the course 
of their wander- 
ings, the priests 
and trad- < adjjj 
ers reached 
the country about 
Lake Superior - 
and Lake Michi- 
gan, they began 
to hear of a river so great and 
long that the Indians called it Mississippi or "the Father of 
Waters." Might not this be the long-sought passageway to 
the Indies ? the French asked themselves. In hopes that it 
was, two men whose names ought to be remembered, — Father Father 
Marquette, a priest who had founded the Mackinac mission, Mar i uette 
and Joliet, a soldier, — were sent to find the Father of Waters 
and follow it to the sea. 

1 Among names of French origin are Joliet, Duluth, Terre Haute, Carondelet, 
La Salle, Sault Ste. Marie, Prairie du Chien, Detroit, Vincennes, St. Louis, aud 
New Orleans. 




Shooting the rapids 



38 



THE FRENCH IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 






■ - 



-K 







M- 



H 



Marquette 
on the 
Mississippi 



They set out one spring day from Mackinac 
Strait with five companions in two birch canoes, 
( y paddled along the shore of Lake Michi- 
gan to the head of Green Bay, and 
made their way, with 
the help of friendly In- 
dians, to a large river 
flowing to the west 
All along their route 
the Indians would have 
stopped them, and told 
them stories of fierce tribes 
that lived on the great 
river, of a devil that would 
drown them in a deep hole 
where he dwelt, of monsters that 
would destroy their ca- 
noes, and of heat that could A $^^ 
not be endured. But Mar- Sjj 
quette was not to be frightened, 
and pushed boldly out on this 
westward-flowing river, which he named the Wis- 
consin. After seven days they came to its mouth, 
and saw, rushing across their way, the rapid cur- 
rent of the Mississippi. 

Turning southward, the explorers paddled and 
floated down the great river till they reached an 
Indian village opposite the mouth of the Arkan- 
sas. There, suddenly, they beheld a fleet of war 
canoes dart out from the shore to cut them off. 
Marquette now waved the peace pipe given him by 
some friendly Indians as a safeguard. But at first 



Voyage of Marquette 
and Joliet 




Peace pipe 



THE FRENCH IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 



39 



turns back 



no heed was paid to it, and the young warriors would have killed 
him had not the old men shouted to them from the shore. 

Marquette and his party were then allowed to land, were well Marquette 
treated, and the next day went on down 
the river to another town, where the 
Indians warned them to go no further. 
There the travelers stopped, and, turn- 
ing back, made their way slowly north- 
ward to Green Bay. 

The discovery of the Mississippi River 
by Marquette and Joliet was of great im- 
portance to the French. Yet many years 
went by before La Salle finished their 
work by following the river to its mouth. 

The report brought back by Joliet 
and Marquette convinced La Salle that 
the great river they had discovered and 
explored flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, 
and filled him with an intense desire to 
have his countrymen own the splendid 
valley down which it went. He would 
lead them away from cold and barren 
Canada, into the rich and pleasant region 
of the Mississippi. He would secure its 
trade, its wealth, for France alone, and would see it dotted LaSaiie's 
with cities and villages planted by Frenchmen. p 

But did the river enter the Gulf ? That was for him to dis- 
cover, and after five years of getting ready he set out to make 
the attempt. But another four years passed, and three heroic His failures 
attempts were made and two failures nobly overcome before La 
Salle, with his little fleet of canoes, floated out of the Illinois 
River upon the broad current of the Mississippi. 




Statue of Marquette 

(In the Capitol at Washington) 



40 THE FRENCH IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 

La saiie at It was in the month of February, and the river was a rush- 
Mississf i * n S torrent full of ice and floating trees. But La Salle pushed 
on till the canoes reached that point where the Mississippi 
divides and enters the Gulf of Mexico through three broad 
channels. La Salle sent one band of his followers down the 
eastern channel, and another down the middle, while he fol- 
lowed the western channel, to the waters of the Gulf. Then 
he coasted along the marshes to the mouth of the middle chan- 
nel, where the parties met and landed. A huge cross was now 
made ready, the arms of France were fastened to it, and with 
songs of praise to God, and shouts of " Long live the King," 
it was planted in the ground. Standing beside it, La Salle, in 
a loud voice, took possession of all the land drained by the 
claims Ohio, the Mississippi, and their branches, claimed it in the 
Louisiana name £ ;p rance ^ anc l named it " Louisiana," after Louis XIV., 
who was King of France at that time. 

But his work was far from ended. The valley he had ex- 
plored, the country he had added to France, must be occupied, 
and to occupy it two things were necessary. There must be 
a colony planted at the mouth of the river to keep out the 
Spaniards ; there must be a strong fort and colony somewhere 
on the Illinois to control the Indians. 

La Salle, therefore, hurried back to the lakes, gathered as 
many men as possible, and in December was again on the 
Illinois River, where he chose, as the place for his fort, the 
lofty summit of a great cliff, now called Starved Rock. 
This famous rock stands on the south bank of the Illinois 
Fort River, near the present town of Ottawa. On three sides the 
st. Louis roc k } g g0 S £ ee p that it can not be climbed. The fourth side 
may be mounted with difficulty. The summit is about an acre 
in extent, and on it La Salle built a stockade which he named 
Fort St. Louis. 



THE FRENCH IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 



41 



In order to secure the mouth of the Mississippi, La Salle La saiie in 
now set off for Paris, where his plans so pleased the King that Texas 
he was soon sent with four ships to plant a colony at the mouth 
of the Father of Waters. But the little fleet missed the mouth 
of the river and brought up 
on the coast of Texas, where 
the men landed and built 
Fort St. Louis of Texas. 
But evil fortune still pur- 
sued their great commander. 
The colonists quarreled, 
death reduced their numbers 
rapidly, and in their distress 
the few who were left divided 
themselves into two parties. 

Some remained at the fort and were never heard of again. 
Others, led by La Salle, started for the Illinois and reached it 
after a long time, but on the way they had murdered La Salle, 
— one of the greatest explorers of our country. 

Eleven years now passed without any effort being made by French sett 
France to take possession of Louisiana. But by and by (1699) 
a stockade called Biloxi was built on the shore of the Gulf of 
Mexico, east of the mouth of the Mississippi, and then after a 
few years Mobile Bay was occupied and the cities of Mobile 
and New Orleans were started. 




Starved Rock 



New Orlear 



SUMMARY 

The French were attracted to North America by the good fishing off 
Newfoundland, but sent out Cartier to find a northwest passage to the 
Indies. Instead he discovered and sailed up the St. Lawrence River. 

For many years no attempt to plant a colony on the river was successful, 
but at last Champlain led out a colony and founded Quebec (1608). 



44 THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 

3. Champlain aided the Canadian Indians in war against the fierce Iroquois 

of New York. As a result, the French were prevented from making 
settlements in New York, but pushed westward north of Lake Ontario, 
discovered the Great Lakes, and heard of a river called Mississippi, 
or the Father of Waters. 

4. Marquette and Joliet were sent to explore this river. A few years 

later another Frenchman, named La Salle, floated down the river 
to its mouth, claimed all the country drained by it for France, and 
called it Louisiana. 

5. All this gave the French a claim to Canada, the region of the Great 

Lakes, and the Mississippi valley. 

6. Toward the end of the seventeenth century and in the beginning of the 

eighteenth, France began to occupy the lower Mississippi valley and 
built Mobile and New Orleans. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 

The cabots Now we must learn how there happened to be any English 
in our country. A few years after Columbus discovered the 
West Indies, a sailor named Cabot sailed from England in 
command of an English ship to see if he could find a way 
to Asia. 

Like Columbus, he failed in the attempt ; but during a 
second voyage, Cabot (or his son) sailed along our coast from 
Newfoundland southward, and the English accordingly claimed 
this part of America as their own. Nearly a hundred years 
went by before they were ready to make settlements in it ; and 
when at last they tried to do so, they too, like the French, made 
Gilbert a number of failures. Humphrey Gilbert, who went to New- 
foundland in search of a good place to plant a colony, was 
lost at sea. Sir Walter Ralegh twice sent bands of settlers to 



THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 



45 



SCALE OF MILES 



Roanoke Island on the coast of North Carolina. The first Ralegh's 
band soon went back to England ; the second disappeared, and settlements 
what befell it is not known to this day. 

Though Ralegh's attempts were failures, the time for the 
planting of the first successful 
colony was near at hand, and 
in 1607 (one year before Cham- 
plain founded Quebec) three 
ships full of men crossed the 
Atlantic from England. 

They were sent by the Lon- 
don Company, and sailed for 
the coast of Virginia, as the 
English called the whole coun- 
try from what is now South 
Carolina to Maine. Entering 
the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, 
the colonists one beautiful May 
day sailed up a broad river 
which they called the James 
in honor of their king, and, 
landing on its bank, began a 
settlement which they named Virginia and Maryland 

Jamestown. For shelter some had tents made of sails ; others 
had cabins with grass or bark roofs ; others had holes in the 
ground. 

Presently their food gave out, and many fell sick and died, captain joh 
They did not know how to live in a wilderness. Had it not Smith 
been for Captain John Smith, every one of them would have 
perished. Smith took command : he set the men to building 
good huts ; persuaded the Indians to bring food ; and for two 
years kept the colonists together. 




46 



THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 




Grave of Powhatan, James River 
(Present state) 

Sometimes with a boat full of companions he would go off 
to explore the country. On one of these trips most of his men 
were left to guard the boat, while he with four others paddled 
up a river in a canoe. Suddenly a band of Indians attacked 
the little party, captured Smith, and killed the others. 

Sure that his life was in danger, he at once began to amuse 
the Indians. Taking out his pocket compass, he showed them 
the needle trembling and quivering and always pointing one 
way. Amazed at what they saw, they spared his life and took 
him to the village of the great war chief called the Powhatan, 
and into a long wigwam. Before the fire sat the Powhatan, 
dressed in a robe of raccoon skins. Beside him were his 
squaws, and along the walls the other women and the warriors. 
After a very long debate it was decided to kill the prisoner. 
Two stones were placed in front of the chief, and Smith's 
head was laid upon them. Near by stood the warriors, clubs 
in hand, and just about to dash out his brains, when Poca- 
hontas, a little daughter of the chief, rushed up and laid her 
head upon Smith's and saved him. This is the story as it was 



THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 



47 



told by Smith ; it may be true, but some say that Smith made 
it up. Pocahontas, at all events, was a real Indian girl, and 
} was a good friend to the Jamestown people, and finally married 
John Rolfe, one of the settlers. 

While Smith was in command the colony grew and did fairly The starving 
well. But when he returned to England, evil days came upon time 
the people. Food grew scarce ; the Indians became hostile ; 
famine set in, and the sufferings of the starving people were 
so terrible that in a few months their number was reduced 
from five hundred to sixty. These, too, would have perished 
had not two little ships with more settlers arrived just at that 
time. 

But when the newcomers saw the starving people, all that 
were left of the once thriving colony, their hearts failed them, 




Painting by llemy Bru<n:k 



Marriage of Pocahontas 



48 



THE ENGLISH EN VIRGINIA 



Tobacco 
raising 



and they decided to leave Jamestown forever. Then (he huts 
were stripped of everything worth taking away, and the set- 
tlers, boarding the ships, sailed down the river. Such, how- 
ever, was not to be the end of Jamestown. As the settlers 
neared the sea they met three well-stocked vessels from Eng- 
land, and turning back reoccupied the huts just abandoned, 
and began a new struggle for a living. 

And a struggle it was. The newcomers were quite unfit for 

life in the wilderness, and the colony can not be said to have 

become prosperous till the colonists began to raise tobacco, 

which greatly changed the whole course of events in Virginia. 

In the first place, when the people found what 

good prices tobacco brought in England, they 

raised it rather than corn or wheat, and it became 

the chief crop. 

In the second place, when men in England saw 
that money was to be made by tobacco growing in 
Virginia, they came over to engage in planting, and 
the colony drew to itself a better class of settlers. 
In the third place, tobacco became a sort of 
money, and the price of food, of clothes, of articles 
of all sorts, and even wages, were paid in pounds 
of tobacco. 

In the fourth place, as the colony grew in num- 
bers, and tobacco planting became more and more 
the chief business of the colon}', people lived on 
plantations rather than in towns and cities. 

About the time the Virginians may be said to 
have fairly started on their career of prosperity (when the 
colony was twelve years old), an odd thing happened, — a 
wives for shipload of young women arrived in search of husbands. Of 
the men who had heretofore come over very few had wives 




Tobacco plant 



settlers 



THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 



49 




Westover. a Virginia colonial house 



and children. The 
company which man- 
aged affairs in Vir- 
ginia knew very well 
that without homes 
and children and 
family ties, their 
colony could never 
become prosperous. 
The company there- 
fore decided to pro- 
vide wives, and find- 
ing ninety young 
women willing to go, 

sent them out to Jamestown. Each one was free to choose her 
husband. But the girls were so much sought for, that the 
company sent out shipload after shipload, and then each man 
had to pay the passage of his wife, which was one hundred 
and twenty pounds of tobacco. 

During the same year in which these young women arrived, Negro slaves 
another ship, bearing a very different sort of people, touched at 
Jamestown. It was a Dutch man-of-war, and from it twenty 
negroes were sold to the colonists. These were the first negro 
slaves in our country, and from their introduction dates the 
beginning of slavery, which in time brought about much trouble. 

Many years went by, however, before slaves became numer- 
ous, and in the meantime much of the labor was performed 
by white persons called indented servants or redemptioners. 
These were men, women, and children who had been sold for a 
certain number of years, and who would not be free till they 
had worked that length of time for their masters. Some of 
them were persons who had sold themselves in this way, in 



Indented 
servants 



50 



THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 




Gteat 

tobacco 

plantations 



No roads 



order to pay their passage to America ; some of them were 
criminals, or persons guilty of some little offense, who had 
been sold for a time instead of being punished in any other 
way ; some of them were boys or girls who had been stolen 

from their homes and carried off 
by force, something like the 
negro slaves. 

These indented servants could 
be bought and sold like slaves or 
cattle, but only for the time dur- 
ing which they were bound to 
serve. When that time was up, 
they no longer had to work with- 
out pay, but might work for 
wages, or might get small plan- 
tations of their own. Some, how- 
ever, were lazy and became beg- 
gars and thieves. 
With the cultivation of tobacco, the arrival of the maids, and 
the coming of more emigrants from England, the settled part 
of Virginia was greatly increased. By the time the colony was 
twenty years old, large plantations were scattered along the 
banks of the York and James rivers, and Virginia had begun 
to be a new kind of country. There were no roads, scarcely 
any villages, and tobacco planting had become the chief 
industry. 

There were no roads because the plantations generally lay 
along some river or stream, and it was easier to pass from one 
to another by water than by land. There were no towns (save a 
few very small ones, such as Henricus and Bermuda), because 
almost everybody lived on plantations, and because all trade 
and commerce were carried on at the planter's own door. 



Main gateway at Westover 



THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 



51 



The ships that came from England for the tobacco would sail 
up the rivers to the planters 1 wharves, and pay for the tobacco 
with articles brought from the mother country. Tables, chairs, 
knives, saws, axes, nails, hammers, clothing, shoes, — almost 
everything the planter needed for his family, his house, his 
plantation, and his servants, came from abroad. 




Kuined church tower at Jamestown (church itself rebuilt in 1907) 



The Virginians bought all these things from England, not Little 

manuf, 
turing 



because they were too lazy to make them for themselves, 



but because they were so busy planting and curing tobacco, 
and because they had very few good workmen. So general 
was tobacco planting, so completely did it take men away from 
other pursuits, that when Virginia was about twenty -five years 
old, a law was made forbidding brickmakers, carpenters, turners, 
sawyers, and joiners to plant or farm. 

Another effect of plantation life was the small number of Few town 
towns. This, too, the Virginia lawmakers tried to remedy. 



52 



THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 



They ordered each county to build one brick house in James- 
town, and required all the tobacco raised within a certain 
region to be sent there. But the law was not obeyed, and 
Jamestown never contained more than a church, a courthouse, 
and a few houses. The town was deserted many years ago, 
and, save the ruined tower of the church, and some tombs, little 

remains to show where 
it once stood. 

Yet another law 
required towns to be 
built at certain places, 
and offered all kinds 
of favors to persuade 
people to live in them. 
But this, too, was a 
failure, and it was a 
long time before the 
present cities of Vir- 
ginia struggled into 
the shape of villages. 
There were other 
towns established by 
law in each county as 




Shirley 



Early bouses 



places in which to try lawsuits and punish criminals, but they 
rarely consisted of more than the courthouse, the jail (near 
which stood the stocks, the pillory, and the whipping post >, a 
wretched inn for the use of the judges and lawyers, and some- 
times a church. Such a place was called a " Court House," 
and was named from the county in which it was situated, as 
Hanover Court House, Culpeper Court House, and the like. 
In early times the houses of the Virginia settlers were of 
logs and built without iron. Wooden pegs were used in place 



THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 



53 



of nails ; leather was used for hinges ; and a wooden latch with 
a leather string to lift it answered all the purposes of our door 
knob and lock. So valuable were nails that a common practice 
of settlers in later times when leaving their farms was to burn 
down the house and pick the nails out of the ashes ; and in 
the hope of stopping this custom Virginia offered to give the 
mover as many nails as were believed to be in the house, pro- 
vided he left it standing. 

As the people became more prosperous, log houses gave place 
to long, narrow board 
houses with huge stone 
or log chimneys at each 
end, and partitions plas- 
tered with - mud and 
whitewashed. Some- 

times the windows were 
furnished with glass ; 
but more often only 
shutters were used to 
keep out the wind and 
rain. 

The great planters 
had fine houses, a few of which, built two hundred years ago, Great 
are still standing. They are of brick or wood, have names, j^" 16 / 8 ' 
as Shirley, or Lower Brandon, or Sabin Hall, or Westover, and 
are fine examples of their kind. Around the Hall, and separate 
from it, were the kitchen, with its huge fireplace and curious 
cooking utensils ; the offices, the vegetable garden, the ware- 
houses for tobacco and grain, the stables, the cattle pens, the 
dairy, and the cluster of little log cabins where the slaves lived, 
known as the negro quarters. 

The slaves and white redemptioners, of which on the great 

U OK. PR. H. 4 




Negro quarters 



THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA 



plantations there were generally several hundred, did all the 
work. Some were coopers and made barrels in which the 
tobacco was packed and rolled to the wharf or warehouse ; 
others were blacksmiths, carpenters, sawyers, spinners ; some 
T were weavers and knitters who made 

coarse cloth and stockings for the 
negroes. But this was 



Jiii 







Hallway at Shirley 



Lord 
Baltimore 



Maryland 
settled 



at a time when Virginia 
was a hundred years or 
more old. 

Long before that time 
the London Company 
which at first controlled 
Virginia had been broken 
up, so that the colony came 
under the control of the 
English King. Then, 
about twenty-five years 
after the founding of Jamestown, King Charles I. cut off a 
piece of Virginia and gave it to Lord Baltimore. 

This nobleman had attempted to plant a colony in New- 
foundland, but the French attacked him, and the climate was 
so cold and the winters so long and the soil so poor that he 
applied to the King for a piece of Virginia. The great tract 
given him he called Maryland after the Queen. For it he 
was to pay the King two Indian arrows every year, which meant 
that the King did not give up all authority over the colony. 

About this time the first Lord Baltimore died ; but his son 
went on with the work, and sent out a body of colonists, who 
landed on a little island not far from the mouth of the 
Potomac River. Later they moved to the banks of the river 
and started the town of St. Marys. 



THE ENGLISH LN VIRGINIA 55 

Though Maryland was a Catholic colony, Lord Baltimore 
opened it to all Christians ; and soon members of several 
Protestant churches made their homes on its soil. 

What has been said of life in Virginia is just as true of life Life in 
in Maryland. There too people raised tobacco, lived on large Mar y land 
plantations rather than in towns, traveled about by water 
rather than by land, and cultivated their plantations by in- 
dented white servants and negro slaves. There were no large 
cities to which the planters could send their crops to be sold 
and shipped abroad. Each plantation had, if possible, frontage 
on some river or the bay, and to its wharf or " landing " would 
come the English merchant ships to exchange the knives, saws, 
silks, and muslins of the Old World for the tobacco of the 
New. When the plantation was not on a stream deep enough 
to float a great ship, the tobacco or grain would be loaded 
on a raft and pushed down to the ship. When 
there was no stream, an axle would 
be made fast to each cask of 
tobacco, which was then ^J M/i I 

rolled along to market. 

The first town in 
Maryland was St. Marys. Rollin s tobacco t0 market 

The second, Annapolis, rose to be the most important in the 
colony, and remained so till Baltimore was founded when 
Maryland was nearly a hundred years old. 



SUMMARY 

1. A few years after the voyage of Columbus, Cabot sailed along the coast 

of North America and gave the English a claim based on discovery. 

2. About a hundred years later attempts were made by Ralegh to found 

an English colony on Roanoke Island, but failed. 




5b THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND 

3. At last the London Company planted Jamestown, in Virginia (1607), 

the first successful settlement by the English in our country. 

4. The company sent out shiploads of young women to marry the men; 

and numbers of laborers, called redemptioners; while a Dutch ship 
brought the first negro slaves introduced into our country. 

5. In Virginia in early times there were a great number of tobacco planta- 

tions, and hardly any towns. 

6. "When Jamestown was about twenty-five -years old, the King gave a large 

tract of land to Lord Baltimore. This new colony was called Maryland. 

7. Lord Baltimore made Maryland a Roman Catholic colony ; but people 

of any Christian sect were welcome to settle there and were not 
molested. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND 

While the Virginia settlers were passing their first } r ear in 
the New World, a number of men and women in England who 
had begun to worship God in a manner not allowed by the 
laws of that time, and had been harshly treated, fled to Hol- 
land, where they might worship as they pleased. 

They were glad enough to find such a place of refuge. But 
if they and their children after them were to remain in Holland, 
they would forget their native land, forget their native lan- 
guage, lay aside the manners and customs of Englishmen, and 
at length become Dutchmen. As they were not willing to do 
this, they resolved to move to some part of the world where 
they might still be Englishmen, and yet be free to worship 
God in their own way. There was then only one such land, 
and that was America. 

To America, therefore, they turned, formed a company, and 
having obtained leave to settle on the coast of what is now 



THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND 



57 



New Jersey, a little band of Pilgrims sailed from Holland to pilgrims s 
England. There others joined them, and the company thus forAmenc 
increased in number started in two ships, the Speedwell and 
the Mayfloiver, for the New World. But they had not gone 
far from land when the Speedwell sprung a leak, and both 
returned to port. Some repairs were made, after which the 
two again set sail and had crossed three hundred miles of water, 
when the Speedwell leaked so badly that they were once more 




Pilgrims leaving Holland 

forced to put back. A few of the band now gave up all idea 
of going, and remained in England. The rest, just one hun- 
dred and two men, women, and children, crowded on board the 
other vessel, the Mayflower* and once more started for America. 



58 



THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND 




Pilgrims 

settle 

Plymouth 



The weather was so bad and the wind so high that nine 
weeks passed before they came in sight of land, which proved 
to be the shore of Cape Cod, far from the Jersey coast for 
which they had started. The Mayflower 
was therefore turned southward. 
But head winds drove her back, 
and the Pilgrims were forced to 
seek shelter in what is now Prov- 
incetown harbor, behind 
Cape Cod. 

The country round 
about was so poor a place 
for a settlement that par- 
ties were sent to find a 
better one, and five weeks 
were spent in exploring 
tlie shores. At last one 
party, under Captain Miles Standish, entered a harbor so at- 
tractive that it was chosen for the settlement. To this harbor 
the Mayflower was brought with all on board, and a few days 
before Christmas, 1620, the Pilgrims went on shore to begin 
the building of a town, which was named Plymouth. 

As usual with settlers in a new country, the sufferings of 
the Pilgrims during the first winter were terrible. Before 
spring half of them died. But the rest were steadfast, and, 
guided by the wisdom of 
William Bradford and 
defended by the skill and 
courage of Miles Standish, 
the colony passed through 
all the perils of the wil- 
derness. Relics of Miles Standish 



The Mayflower 




THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND 



59. 



One day in the early spring an Indian walked into Plymouth Pilgrims a 
and astonished the people by saying "Welcome!" in good theIndiani 
English. He was Samoset, and had learned the word from 
some fishermen who visited the coast before the Pilgrims. 
By and by he paid another visit with four companions, one 
of whom was called 
Squanto. 

Squanto had been 
carried away by one 
of the early explorers, 
had been taken to 
England, and had at 
last been brought 
back to his old home 
near Plymouth Bay. 
During his long stay 
abroad Squanto had 
learned to speak Eng- 
lish, and now he be- 
came a most important 
man in Plymouth. 
He acted as interpre- 




f: 



j. • ^JSalem. 

y\f A&S B Boston K^ » © 

?M 'I s- ^~~\ P)i,_ A <►" C.Cod 



\J js! W j Hartford 1"^ Providence S ^ 

ff ) , ^i6 O N N E J T I C C> ^^Jy^j^ 

MARTHAS 1^ «»» 
VJNEYAF 






SCALE OF M(LEB 



New England 



ter between the Pilgrims and the Indians. He taught the what squ< 
settlers how to fish, how to catch eels, and how to plant and tau £ ht 
cultivate corn, and told them to put a fish in each hill of corn, 
as manure. 

On his first visit Squanto said that Massasoit, chief of a 
neighboring tribe, was coming to see the colonists. The 
Pilgrims received this chief with great ceremony, and a treaty 
was made, binding each to help the other and to trade as friends. 

Not every chief was as friendly as Massasoit, and presently 
the head of another near-by tribe sent a messenger to Plymouth 



HO 



THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND 



Rhode 
Island 
settled 



with a rattlesnake skin 
wrapped about a bundle of 
arrows. Nobody knew what 
this meant. But the next 
time Squanto came to Plym- 
outh he said it was a chal- 
lenge to fight. When Brad- 
ford heard this, he filled the 
snake skin with powder and 
bullets, and sent it back. 
Then the hostile chief de- 
cided not to fight, after all. 

But the Pilgrims were 
not the only people who could 
not live in England. Others, 
known as the Puritans, were 
now so harshly treated that 
they too turned to America. 
Coming over in great num- 



bers, they founded Salem and 
Boston, and other towns 
near by, and thus planted 
a new colony called Massachusetts Bay. 

In a little while, however, disputes arose in the new colony 
over church matters, and numbers of the settlers went off 
under different leaders and built other towns. One of them, 
a young minister named Roger Williams, was so disliked that 
he was ordered to go back to England. 

Instead of going to England, Williams fled to the village 
of Massasoit, passed a winter there, and in the spring built a 
house near by at a place he called Providence. This was the 
beginning of the colony of Rhode Island. 




J'alntmg by V. II. Boughto 



Puritans going to church 



THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND 



61 




About the same time another very famous minister, Thomas connects 
Hooker, left Massachusetts Bay with a great many of his settled 
congregation. They started westward, walk- 
ing through the forests, driving their cattle 
before them, till they came to the banks of 
the Connecticut, where they founded Hart- 
ford. Other bands soon followed the 
example of Hooker's party, and built 
two more towns near Hartford. 
These were the beginnings of 
Connecticut. Two years later 
another colony was started at 
New Haven. 

The arrival of settlers in the 
Connecticut valley led the chief 
of the Pequot Indians to attempt 
to drive out the whites, and he 
began by trying to persuade other tribes to join him on the 
warpath. Hearing of this, the settlers begged Roger Williams 
to do his best to prevent such a union of powerful tribes. 
Williams had little reason to love the 
people who had driven him into exile ; 
but he was too noble a man to seek 
revenge, and by his influence the union 
of the tribes was prevented. 

Left to themselves, the Pequots now pequotwa 

attacked the settlers. Men were killed 

on their way to the fields, people were 

scalped, and girls were carried off. Such 

i 'I things were not to be endured, and as 

soon as possible a little band of whites, with some friendly 

Indians, set off to attack the Pequots. 






Monument over Plymouth Rock 




62 



THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND 



Destruction 
of the 
Pequots 



King 

Philip's 

War 




Pequot village 



Their village, which stood not far from Stonington, was 
a collection of wigwams surrounded by a circular fence or 

stockade of tree trunks set firmly 
on end in the ground. The 
trunks touched each other, leav- 
■s^ ing chinks through which the 
Indians, when attacked, could 
fire. It was a bright moonlight 
night in May when the army came in sight of the village, within 
which were several hundred savages. 

At the sight of the stockade, the Indian allies of the English 
were filled with fear and slunk back. So the little band of 
white men went on alone to attack the whole Indian vil- 
lage. As they drew near, the barking of the dogs aroused 
the Pequots; but some of the white men guarded the two 
entrances, and shot down every one who 
attempted to escape. Others guarded the 
stockade and flung burning torches over 
it, setting fire to the wigwams. Of the 
many Indians who were in the village, 
only five escaped death. The Pequot 
tribe was destroyed, and for nearly forty 
years no other Indians dared lift a hand 
against the whites. 

During these years of peace the colo- 
nists increased rapidly in number, built 
new towns, and crowded the Indians more 
and more. The loss of their land of 
course angered the savages, and they 
would gladly have killed all the settlers. 
But they remembered the fate of the Pequots and kept quiet 
till a chief called King Philip dug up the hatchet, and began 




Chair of the first 
governor of Plymouth 



THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLAND 



63 




(1675) a three years' war for the purpose of | driving the 
white man from the country. 

For a time it seemed as if the people on the 
frontier would all be killed. Village after 
village was attacked and fearful deeds were 
done. Out of ninety towns twelve were 
burned to the ground, and forty were at- 
tacked and many of their inhabitants slaugh- 
tered. More than a thousand white men and 
scores of women and children perished be- 
fore Philip was killed and the war ended. 

And what of the red man ? As a power the 
Indian was destroyed, and, except when aiding 
the French in their border wars, disappears 
from New England history. Dreadful as these 
things were, they ought to be remembered, 
know what sort of people founded our states, and at what a 
cost in life and suffering. 

King Philip's War had scarcely ended when King Charles II. New 

made another New England colony. Much of the Ham P shire 
country included in what is now Maine and New 
Hampshire once belonged to Ferdi- 
nand o Gorges and John Mason. In 
time the heir of Gorges sold Maine 
5ml^^fSn-i-;j' : :-; to Massachusetts. But the heirs of 
Mason neglected New Hampshire, 
and the few towns in it were gov- 

Cradle of the first Pilgrim baby i ■, -»»■ i ,i , -n c^ 

erned by Massachusetts till after 
King Philip's War, when the King made it a separate royal 
province. 

Not long after this Plymouth, or "the Old Colony," was j£" la " e d w 
added to Massachusetts. As the New Haven colony was colonies 



An early flax spinning 
wheel 

We ought to 



&.x 



64 PIONEER LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND 

already joined with Connecticut, there were then but four 
New England colonies left — Massachusetts Bay, New Hamp- 
shire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. 

SUMMARY 

1. The first permanent English settlement in New England was made at 

Plymouth (lfi'20) by the Pilgrims, as they were called. 

2. After suffering great hardships, the Plymouth colony began to prosper, 

and its success led to a great Puritan immigration. The Puritans 
founded the colony of Massachusetts Bay, to which, after many years, 
Plymouth and Maine were annexed. 

3. Religious differences soon led to the founding of a new colony by Roger 

Williams, which we know as Rhode Island, and to the planting of 
three towns in the Connecticut River valley. 

4. The arrival of these people in the Connecticut valley was the cause of the 

Pequot War and the almost utter destruction of the Pequot Indians. 

5. New Haven was settled as a colony by itself, but afterwards became 

part of Connecticut. 

6. For many years there was peace with the Indians. But in time a long 

and bloody struggle, known as King Philip's War, occurred, during 
which the Indian power in New England was broken. 

7. Just at the end of this war New Hampshire was made a colony separate 

from Massachusetts. 

CHAPTER VII 

PIONEER LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND 

Many towns In our study of Virginia we noticed that plantations were 
l many and large, and towns few and very small. Just the 
opposite of this is true of New England, where there were no 
plantations, but many towns. Almost everybody lived in or 
near a town. On the frontier and in remote places, it is true, 
there were detached farms ; but these were the exceptions. 



PIONEER LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND 



65 




A blockhouse 



The church, the blockhouse, and the town house stood near 

together in the center of the village. Around them were the 

dwelling of the minister, the inn, the store, the 

shops of the blacksmith, the shoemaker, and 

all the other tradesmen, and about these 

in turn were the farmhouses, some near 

and some far away. 

The towns that were on the frontier, 

or so situated as to be open to Indian 

attack (and few in early colonial days 

were not), were always guarded by block- 
houses surrounded by high stockades. 

There might be three or more blockhouses 

to each village, and to these at night the 

families of the settlers whose homes were not thus protected Defenses 

came to sleep. When daylight returned, if all was found to 

be safe, the great gate was unbarred and the men and women 

went back to their daily work, and at sunset returned to the 

blockhouses. 

To such little forts the name " garrison houses " was given. Garrison 

Their thick sides of logs were bullet proof. The upper story houses 

projected over the lower, and in place of windows were loop- 
holes. The walls of some were 
of stone. Most of these block- 
houses have long since disap- 
peared, but a few, changed into 
dwelling houses with windows, 
still remain. Small towns of 
twenty or thirty houses were 
often entirely surrounded by a 

stockade with wooden towers called " flankers," in which the 

sentinels kept watch from sunset to sunrise. 




Pattens worn over shoes in wet 
weather 



66 



PIONEER LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND 







A log cabin 



Houses of 

Ne t^ ngland he wished them to be. 
settlers 



The houses of the first-comers were of logs. The builder 
would begin by cutting down trees and chopping them into 

logs about fourteen feet long and 
notching the end halfway through. 
When enough had been cut he 
would place four on the ground 
in the shape of a square, taking 
care to leave an open space in 
u one side for a doorway, and an- 
other at one end for a huge fire- 
place. On top of these he would 
put a second set of logs, and then 
a third and a fourth, and so on till the walls were as high as 

For the roof he used log rafters, placed 
saplings across them, and on the saplings laid marsh grass or 
straw, or bark of trees like shingles, or shingles themselves if 
he had time to make them. Between the wall logs of course 
would be chinks or open spaces, because the tree trunks, being 
of different shapes, would not everywhere touch each other. 
These chinks were filled with chips covered with mud or clay. 
Outside the great fireplace was the chimney, made either of 
stones, or of branches of trees covered with clay on the inside 
to keep them from taking fire. 
Stoves and ranges were un- 
known. 'I"!' " l ~^-~ — '* " r l 

As the towns along the 
seacoast grew in wealth and 
population, better houses 
were built, and some of these, two hundred and fifty and more 
years old, are still standing in New England. 
Their food Quite as important to the first-comers as their houses, was 
their food. We have seen the Jamestown colonists starving to 




Toaster 



PIONEER LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND 



67 



death in a land of plenty because they did not know how to get 
things to eat. In New England matters were better 
managed, though the soil there was less fertile, and 
the winters were colder. The Pilgrims landed in 
midwinter, but when spring came, they took their 
first lesson in New World farming from Squanto, 
that good friend of the white man. 

The lesson taught at Plymouth has never been Lessons 



forgotten, and the New England boy or girl who 1( 




Indians 



Iron lantern 



to-day sees a cornfield with the same number of 
stalks in each hill, with bean vines clinging to the 
stalks, and pumpkin vines winding in and out 
through the hills, beholds exactly the kind of corn 

patch that Squanto showed the Pilgrims how to plant. 

But Squanto did more than this. He taught them how to 

dry and pound and cook the corn, and to prepare dishes which 

we still call by the Indian names of succo- 
tash and supawn. Having no mills in 

which to grind corn, the settlers used the 

Indian method of pounding. A tree would 

be chosen and cut off three feet above the 

ground ; a hole would be chopped or 

burned into the top of the stump ; and 

a heavy block of wood — the pestle — 

shaped to fit the hole, would be 

suspended from a young tree near 

by. After putting his corn into the 

hole, the farmer, or more likely his 

wife or daughter, would pull down 

the pestle with a bang, and then relax the pull on it slightly, 

when the tree would lift it up ready for another blow, and so 

on till the corn was pounded into meal. 




Pounding corn 



68 



PIONEER LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND 




Household 
manufactur- 
ing 



From the Indians 
also came the pump- 
kin, the squash, the 
potato, and the sweet 
potato. To them 
were of course added 
such vegetables and 
fruits as the settlers 
knew in England. 

From the Indians, 

,i Old house (1650) 

again, came the snow- 
shoe, the moccasin, and the canoe, each of which has played an 
important part in the history of our country. 

From the very start household articles were made in New 
England far more generally than in any of the other colonies. 
We have seen how dependent Virginia was on the mother 
country for things to use, to wear, and to work with indoors 
and out. New England was not so much so. Furniture, 
utensils, tools of many sorts, — such as 
hay forks, rakes, oxbows, ox yokes, sleds, 
flails, scythe handles, and ;ix handles, — were 
made by the farmer and his sons. Not a 
boy but put his jackknife to useful 
purpose. He made brooms 
after the Indian fashion from 
the birch tree ; bowls and 
dippers, skimmers and bot 
ties, from gourds ; shoe pegs 
from maple wood ; butter pad- 
dles from red cherry. He platted flags for door mats, and 
whittled rake teeth, cheese hooks, and every toy he owned, 
from a whistle to a water wheel. Such an education made 





Implements for lighting 

{Lard-oil lamp, iron for pulling up the wick, 
and combined tinder box and candlestick) 



A Yankee 



PIONEER LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND 



G9 



a handy man, and a Yankee who was not 
handy was of no account. 

Almost everything was made of wood 
in those days. Hinges for cupboard, closet, 
and even shed doors ; latches, plows and 
harrows, spoons, tankards, and a hundred 
other things now made of metal, were of 
wood. Many more which even in our time 
are wooden but are purchased " at the store " 
were then made at home : as pails, firkins, 
buckets, tubs, bread troughs, wagon wheels. 
A wheelwright in those days was a man 
who made spinning wheels, not cart wheels. 

On the women of the household fell very many duties. 

They made the soap, molded or dipped 

virip-i: the candles, broke the flax and spun it, 

wove and bleached the linen and made 

it into clothes. They carded wool, 

spun the yarn, dyed the cloth, 

knit mittens and stockings, made 

straw hats and baskets, and found 

time to bring up families of 




Wooden tankard 



Women's 
work 




fifteen children. 

Long after this period, 
when the colonies were 
well-to-do, a bright Yan- a Yankee 
kee girl who kept a diary e irl ' sdiar y 
used to record her daily 
work. From these entries 
it appears that she washed, 
cooked, knitted, weeded the garden, picked the feathers from 
live geese for pillows and feather beds, and did a dozen things 

MCM. PR. H. 6 



Spinning flax 



70 



PIONEER LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND 



no girl of our time thinks of doing. As put down day by day, 
her entries read : " Spun short thread. Fix'd two gowns for 
Welsh's girls. Carded tow. Spun linen. Worked on cheese 
basket. Hatchel'd flax with Hannah, we did 51 lbs. apiece. 
Pleated and ironed. Read a sermon of Doddridge's. Spooled 
a piece. Milked the cows. Spun linen, did 50 knots. Made a 
broom of Guinea wheat straw. Spun thread to whiten. Set 
a red dye. Had two scholars from Mrs. Taylor's. I carded 
two pounds of whole 



Table ware 



Spun harness 

Had 
lived 




Table 
customs 



wool and felt nationly [tired], 
twine. Scoured the pewter." 1 
this industrious young woman 
in the early colonial times instead 
of just at their close, there would 
probably have been no pewter for 
her to scour. There were of 
course a few pewter dishes. Some 
to Miles Standish, the Captain of Plymouth, are 
now to be seen at that town. But the mass of the early 
settlers used wooden table ware. Forks, it is said, were 
unknown in England till the year after Jamestown was 
founded. The first in our country, we are told, came to Gov- 
ernor John Winthrop of Massachusetts, twelve years after the 
founding of Plymouth. People ate with their fingers or with 
wooden spoons off wooden trenchers instead of plates. A 
trencher was a block of wood three inches or so in thickness, 
hollowed or scooped out on one side like a saucer. 

Spoons were of wood, or pewter, or, for such as could afford 
it, of silver. Glass tumblers were not in use, nor was it cus- 
tomary to have a drinking cup for each person at the table. 



1 These extracts are given by Mrs. Alice Morse Earle in a delightful book 
called " Home Life in Colonial Days," to which the author is much indebted. 



PIONEER LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND 



71 



One large cup or tankard was enough, and each drank from it 
in turn or when he pleased ; and it might be of wood, or 
leather, or pewter. 

Could we have entered the house of a well-to-do settler a settler's 
at dinner time, we should probably have seen a long, narrow dmnertabl( 
board laid across X supports. This was the table or " board," 
which was "spread." The spreading consisted of the cloth; 




Colonial kitchen fireplace 

a large saltcellar in the middle of the board ; the wooden 
trenchers (not always one for each, but often one for two 
members of the family) ; wooden or pewter spoons, and knives, 
but no forks, no china, no glass ; a huge pewter platter heaped 
with meat and vegetables mixed together, and a wooden or 
pewter tankard for water. 

To the board thus simply spread children were scarcely wel- 
come. In many families they were not allowed to sit during 



Children 
at meals 



72 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



Change in 
customs 



meals, but must stand either beside the table or at a sideboard ; 
must eat their meals as quickly as possible and leave the room. 
As prosperity came to the colonies, many of these customs 
and much of this simplicity disappeared; but they were by no 
means wholly gone when our country became the United States. 



SUMMARY 

1. In New England the people lived in towns, and not on large plantations. 

2. Each New England frontier town was either surrounded by a stockade, 

or was provided with garrison houses, for the Indians were more war- 
like than in Virginia. 

3. Because the winters in New England were colder and the soil less fertile 

than in the South, the houses, the occupations, and the whole manner 
of life were very different in the two sections. 



°KKc 




CHAPTER VIII 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



At the very time that Champlain was getting 
ready to go with the Canadian Indians to fight 
the Iroquois of New York, and while the Eng- 
lish at Jamestown were struggling with famine 
and sickness in Virginia, an Englishman named 
Henry Hudson appeared off the coast of Maine, 
He came in a Dutch ship, the Half-Moon, from the 
Netherlands or Holland, in search of a northwest 
passage through or around America to the Indies. 
Not finding one, Hudson sailed southward and 
came presently to the entrance to Delaware Bay 
Hudson's (map, page 77), up which he went a little way ; but soon turned 
about, and coasting along the New Jersey shore, went into 



Dutch merchant 



voyage 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



73 



^^f 9 




. The Half-Moon on the Hudson 



The Dutch 
fur trade 



New York Bay and sailed 
river that came down from 
the north (1609). 

The beauty of the scen- 
ery, the magnificence of the 
Palisades, the mountains, 
and the lofty hills impressed 
Hudson so strongly that he 
named the stream River of 
the Mountains, though we 
now call it Hudson River. 
But the chance for a trade 
in furs was likewise noticed, 

and when Hudson made his report after returning to Hol- 
land, merchants of Amsterdam sent ships to exchange beads, 
knives, and red cotton cloth for skins of the beaver and 
the otter. A few years later, the Dutch West India Com- 
pany was formed, and then serious efforts were made to settle 
the country. 

Fort Nassau, which had been built south of Albany, Dutch forts 
was moved to the site of Albany and called 
Fort Orange. Another Fort Nassau was built 
on the Delaware River, where Gloucester, 
N. J., is now, and a third fort, Good Hope, 
on the banks of the Connecticut where Hart- 
ford is. Manhattan Island (now a part of 
New York city) was next bought from the 
Indians for a few dollars' worth of goods, 
and Fort Amsterdam, a blockhouse with a 
high stockade backed with earth, was erected 
on the south end of it. Outside the fort was 

Dutch soldier a l'OW of log hilts. 




74 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



Dutch 
settlers 



Extent of 
New Nether- 
land 




Early view of New Amsterdam 
(From an old pi'iul) 

As yet but few people came to settle and farm ; almost all 
the inhabitants were traders who intended to go back to Hol- 
land as soon as they had made some money in the fur trade. 
The "West India Company therefore offered a great induce- 
ment to settlers. Any man who within four years established 
a colony of fifty persons was to receive an immense tract of 
land. 

The owner of such a tract was called a patroon, and in a 
little while a number of patroons were settled along the Hud- 
son River and on the Delaware. The Delaware settlements 
were short-lived, for the Indians drove the Dutch away. But 
those on the Hudson throve, and soon others were made on 
Long Island and on the banks of the Connecticut River. 

Thus it came about that New Netherland, as the Dutch 
called their American possessions, extended from the Delaware 
to the Connecticut River, and included most of Long Island 
and the valley of the Hudson River. 

After a time, some of the officers of the Dutch West India 
Company, disgusted at the way its affairs were managed, 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



75 



formed the South Company and went to Sweden for settlers. 
They sent out a colony of Swedes, founded a town on the 
Delaware, on the site of Wilmington, and called the country 
New Sweden. 

This alarmed the Dutch. They were afraid the Swedes 
were going to have the country, so they built a fort on the 
Delaware River just above the Swedish fort. Thereupon the 
Swedes went higher up the river and built another fort, near 
the present city of Philadelphia. Not content with this, they 
next attempted to make things so uncomfortable for the Dutch 
that they would leave. 

But the governor of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant, 
a fiery, energetic man, came over from New Amsterdam with 
a band of soldiers, 
took possession of all 
the Swedish land, that 
is, a strip west of 
Delaware River and 
Bay, and added it to 
New Netherland. 

Stuyvesant also 
had trouble with the 
English in New Eng- 
land ; but here he 
thought it best not 
to use soldiers, and 
at last the English settlers crowded the Dutch out of the 
Connecticut valley. 

The presence of the Dutch on the Hudson, the Delaware, 
and Long Island was dangerous to the English. It would 
never do to have New England cut off from Virginia and the 
country south of it by the Dutch colony of New Netherland. 



Swedish 
settlers 




Old Swedes' church, Wilmington 



76 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



So King Charles II. of England raised the old claim to the 
whole Atlantic coast, and gave New Netherland to his brother 
the Duke of York (who afterward became King James II.). 

A fleet was next sent to en- 
force this claim, and one fine 
day the English ships dropped 
anchor off the little Dutch 
town of New Amsterdam. 

The Englishman in com- 
mand of the fleet promptly 
sent a letter to Governor 
Stuyvesant, asking him to 
surrender the town. Stuy- 
vesant was for fighting. " I 
would rather be carried out 
dead," said he, "than give up 
the fort." But nobody would 
help him. The people saw 
that it would be useless to 
resist, the Dutch flag on Fort 
Amsterdam came down, the 
English flag went up, and 
New Netherland became the 
property of the Duke of 
York (1664). 

Because of this high- 
handed act, a war followed between Holland and England. 
When it was over, England gave some islands in the East 
Indian seas to Holland, and kept New Netherland. New 
Amsterdam now became New York, and Fort Orange was 
named Albany. A few years later England and Holland were 
again at war, and one August morning a fleet of Dutch ships 




Stuyvesant's pear tree, New York 
(From an old print) 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



77 



anchored off the city of New York, six hundred Dutch soldiers 
came ashore, and the province was once more under Dutch rule. 
Before a year had passed, however, peace was made, and the 
province a second time became English. 

The province of New York, as it was . called, at first New York 
included Delaware, New Jersey, Long Island, Nantucket, 
Marthas Vineyard, and all the country from the Connecticut 
boundary to the sources of the Hudson, the Mohawk, and the 
Delaware rivers. 




The same year in 
which the Dutchmade 
their first surrender 
to England, the Duke 
of York gave a great 
piece of his province 
to two of his friends, 
Lord Berkeley and 
Sir George Carteret. 
It was called New 
Jersey because Car- 
teret had been gov- 
ernor of the island of 
Jersey in the English 
Channel. New Jer- 
sey was next divided 
into two parts, called 
East Jersey and West 
Jersey, which were 
bought by two com- 
panies of Friends or 
Quakers. Afterwards the Jerseys were united again, and 
formed one royal province or colony controlled by the King. 



A T L A N T I C 
OCEAN 






SCALE OF MILES 



The Middle Colonies 



78 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 




Wooden plow 



wmiam Penn One of the members of the company of Friends that pur- 
chased East Jersey was William Penn, who became so deeply 
interested in America that he made up his mind to plant 
a colony of his own. Penn was the son of an English 
admiral who had served his coun- 
try well and had been a true 
friend to the King in time of 
need. Moreover, a great sum of 
money, due by the King to Penn's 
father at the time of his death, was still unpaid. When, there- 
fore, Penn proposed to take as payment of the debt a tract of 
wilderness on the Delaware, King Charles II. very willingly 
consented, gave him the land, and named it Pennsylvania, or 
Penn's Woodland, in honor of the admiral. For this, Penn 
was to pay to the King of England two beaver skins each year. 
This tribute was duly paid by the Penn family for ninety-nine 
years, or until about the time that 
the colony of Pennsylvania became 
an independent state, when the 
United States became free from 
Great Britain. 

The Friends taught that all 
men should live peaceably ; that 
there should be no armies, no 
wars, no lawsuits. Such a people, 
it would seem, might have been 
allowed to go about their business 
unmolested. But they were not. 
In England they were imprisoned, 
flogged, even put to* death. One 

of Penn's purposes, therefore, was to do for the Friends in 
Pennsylvania what the Puritans had done for themselves in 



Friends or 
Quakers 




William Penn 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



79 




Penn's house 
(Now standing in Patrmouut Park, Philadelphia) 



New England ; that is, found 
a colony where they could 
live and worship as they 
pleased. But he did more ; 
he opened his colony to 
men of every religion and 
every nation. 

If you look on the 
map, you will notice that 
Pennsylvania has no sea- 
coast. Penn, therefore, 
bought from the Duke of 
York what is now Dela- 
ware state, and added it 
to Pennsylvania. 

As soon as Penn re- 
ceived his land, three ships with colonists set sail. One was 
driven by storms into the West Indies. The others reached 
the Delaware and anchored off the little Swedish town of 
Upland, or Chester, as it is now called, and were there locked 
in the ice. The Swedes did all they could for the comfort of 
the newcomers ; but many, unable to get other shelter, dug 
caves in the ground or built earth huts, and there Penn found 
them when he came over in the follow- 
ing autumn. 

Though Penn was absolute owner of Pennand 
the soil, he believed the Indians had some the Indians 
rights, and soon after arriving in Penn- 
sylvania he sent for the neighboring 
chiefs. They met him on the banks of 
the Delaware, under a huge elm, bargained for the sale of a 
great tract of land, smoked the pipe of peace, and made a 




Straw bee hive 



80 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



Philadelphia 



Welsh 
settlers 




Penn wampum belt 

treaty that was never broken. The two parties then exchanged 
presents. That from the Indians was a wampum belt on which 
are the figures of an Indian and a white man hand in hand. 

Three asrents sent with the colonists hud meanwhile chosen 
the site for a great town which Penn called Philadelphia, and 
to this spot twenty-three ships filled with settlers came during 
the following summer. 

For nearly twenty years most of the people who came to 
Philadelphia were Welsh. Penn gave these people a great 
tract of country west of the Schuylkill River. This was called 

the Welsh Barony, but is 
now known as the Welsh 
Tract. It may be found on 
a large map of Pennsylvania 
by the Welsh names of the 
towns. 1 After 1700, very 
few Welsh people came to 
Pennsylvania ; but each 
year brought more and more 
English, German, and 
Scotch-Irish settlers. 

Emigrants from Hoi 
land and Germany came 
over almost as soon as Penn himself and planted Germantown, 
then on the outskirts but now within the city of Philadelphia. 
1 Such as Bryn Mawr, Radnor, Merion, Narberth, Gladwyne. 




An old Germantown bouse 
(Chew House) 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



81 



The great German immigration, however, did not begin till German 
some years later. Queen Anne was then on the British throne, 
and the rulers of Great Britain, thinking it was not wise to 
allow so many Englishmen to go to the colonies, began to look 
abroad for immigrants. In a certain part of Germany known 
as the Palatinate, the people, oppressed by war and poverty, 
were at that time most unhappy, and to them the British 
rulers turned. Books were written telling all about 
America and distributed among them. On the covers 
of each book were a picture of Queen Anne and some 
gold letters, which gave it the name of the Golden Book. 

The effect of these books was so great that in two 
years thirty thousand Germans crossed to England. 
They were sheltered in tents on the fields near London 
and taken as quickly as possible, some to Ireland, but 
most to Pennsylvania, New York, and the Carolinas. 

Thus started, a regular trade in emigrants grew up, 
and became so profitable that the custom arose of 
sending men to Germany to urge and persuade peo- 
ple to emigrate. All sorts of wicked lies were told 
the peasants, and if they could not afford to pay 
their passage they were induced to go as redemp- warming pan 
tioners. 

About seventy-five years before Penn founded his colony, The 
a great number of Scotchmen went from Scotland to Ireland. Scotch - lnsn 
They were encouraged to go and live on land taken from Irish- 
men who had rebelled against Queen Elizabeth and James I. 
A little later, when England was ruled by Oliver Cromwell, 
more Irish land was seized and still other Scotchmen and some 
Englishmen were induced to go over to Ireland and live there. 
The descendants of these people were the Scotch-Irish, and about 
twenty years after Pennsylvania was founded they began to 




82 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



scotch-irish come to the colonies in America. Some went to Maryland, 
settlers others to Virginia, others to New Hampshire. Indeed, they 

were to be found scattered along the 
whole frontier from New Hampshire to 
Georgia. 

But Pennsylvania was the favor- 
ite colony of the Scotch-Irish, and 
to it they came in far greater num- 
bers than to any other. Once there, 
they were brought in contact with 
- the Germans, and the meeting was 
mything but peaceful. So serious did 
their quarrels become, that the agent 
of Penn was told to keep the two races 
Scotch-Irish were sent to live along the 




A corn sheller 



separate, and the 

Maryland border and on the western frontier 



5. 



SUMMARY 

Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the service of the Dutch, entered New 
York Bay and sailed up the river that now bears his name (1609). 

The Dutch sent traders to the Hudson valley, made large grants of land 
to men who would bring out settlers, claimed the country from the 
Delaware to the Connecticut River, and called it New Netherland. 

Some Swedes settled on the Delaware River and called their country New 
Sweden, but New Sweden was soon taken by the Dutch. 

Then the English took New Netherland from the Dutch. It was given 
to the Duke of York, who named it New York. 

The Duke gave a piece of it to two friends, who established the colony 
of New Jersey. 

"William Penn obtained from the English King a grant of land and 
founded Pennsylvania. He also bought some land at the mouth of the 
Delaware River, which is now the state of Delaware. 

The liberal policy of Penn attracted many Welsh, German, and Scotch- 
Irish settlers, as well as English, to Pennsylvania. 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



83 



CHAPTER IX 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 

For a long time Maryland and Virginia were the only- 
southern colonies. But some thirty years after the gift of 
Maryland to Lord Baltimore, King Charles II. made a new- 
colony south of Virginia, which he called Carolina and gave 
to eight of his friends (1663). 

Emigrants from Virginia had already settled on Albemarle Early 
Sound. Others, from Barbados Island in the West Indies, J*^* 8 
came to Cape Fear 
River about the time 
King Charles made 
the grant; and to 
these two settlements 
the proprietors soon 
added a third, at 
Charleston. But as 
time passed Charles- 
ton grew and throve, 
and the Cape Fear 
settlement dwindled 
till it completely dis- 
appeared, and there 
were left but two set- 
tlements : the one on 
Albemarle Sound, and 

the other lying about Charleston. Besides the English settlers, 
there came also, in time, Huguenots from France, Swiss, Ger- 
mans, and Scotch Highlanders. 

Between the Albemarle and Charleston settlements was a 




The Carolinas and Georgia 



84 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



North vast stretch of wilderness; neither colony cared about the 
and south ot i ier . ^hey had been founded by two very different sorts of 

Carolina J 1 i «■ 

people, and soon began to be spoken of as North 
Carolina and South Carolina. But it was many 
years before Carolina was actually so divided into 
two distinct provinces. 

The two were very unlike. In North Caro 
Una the people lived on small plantations, where 
corn and tobacco were raised by a few slaves. 
In South Carolina the white population was not 
so numerous as in North Carolina, but was much 
richer, and owned immense plantations, where 
great gangs of slaves raised indigo and rice. 
Then, too, the wealthy planters lived chiefly 
in Charleston, carried on a brisk trade with 
Europe, and sent their sons to England to be 
educated. 

In one other respect 

Huguenot gentleman un]i k e tneir s [ ster G0 \ . 

ward. During some years 
fested by pirates. About the 
English were settling at James 
Massachusetts, there appeared in the 
islands of the West Indies a graceless 
rovers called buccaneers, or Brethren of the 
they called themselves. From their island 
holds they sallied forth to make attacks on the 
of the West Indies and even of South America, 
ing and plundering towns and doing all manner of hor- 
acts, and capturing the merchant ships of all nations. 
When these tilings had gone on for half a century 
and more, England and Spain thought it was time to Rice 




The 
buccaneers 




the Carolinas were 
niestothenorth- 
they were in- 
time when tlie 
town and in 
waters and 
set of s<a 
Coast, as 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



85 



put a stop to buccaneering ; and about the time Charleston 
was founded a treaty was made for that purpose. It was called 
the Treaty of America.' But to put down these desperate free- The pirates 
booters was not easy, and when settlements sprang up on the inCarolma 
Carolina ''coast the pirates found it easy to 
win over the people to their side. They 
brought goods and articles of all sorts that 
the settlers could not get in any other 
way; were liberal with their gold, and 
paid good prices for the rice, tobacco, 
and other things they wanted. More- 
over, the . people and the rulers were 
afraid of them. Men who thought 
nothing of tossing the ciew of a cap- 
tured vessel into the sea, who were 
known to have cut off the heads of pris- 
oners for mere sport, and had taken and 
plundered towns better defended and 
many times larger than Charleston, were 
not to be trifled with. 

As a result, Charleston became a 
favorite haunt of the pirates, and would 
have continued to be so had they not 
begun to plunder the ships that came to South Carolina for 
rice. Then the planters realized that if this plundering went south 
on, the ships would keep away : that if vessels did not come, Caro ' ina 

1 r r j > » expels pirates 

their rice could not be sent to Europe ; and that if it did not 
get to Portugal and Holland, they might better not raise it at 
all. Now, as rice was the chief crop of South Carolina, the 
pirates were thenceforth looked on as enemies, and every year 
numbers of them were to be seen swinging in chains from the 
gallows in Charleston. 

Hi M. PR. IF. 6 




Indigo plant 



86 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



The pirate 
Black beard 



Driven from South Carolina, the buccaneers found refuge 
in the island of New Providence, one of the Bahamas, and in 
the sounds and rivers of North Carolina, where the people 
were still glad to see them. But when a British fleet drove 
the pirates from New Providence, they returned to South 
Carolina, not as friends, but as enemies. One of them was a 

wretch whose name was 
Robert Thatch, but who was 
generally known as Black- 
beard. He was the very ideal 
of a pirate chief. His brow 
was low, his eyes were small, 
his huge shaggy beard, black 
as coal, came far down on his 
breast, and over his shoulder 
hung three braces of pistols. 
He had been the terror of 
the coast for years before he 
appeared one day off the port 
of Charleston with a fine frig- 
ate of forty guns and three 
sloops well armed and manned 
by four hundred desperadoes. 
Despite his presence in 
the neighborhood, a number 
of shij3S set sail from Charles- 
ton in hopes that he might 
But all were taken, and in one were several 
These made a rich prize, and before 




Blackbeard 



not catch them. 

citizens of importance. 
Levies tribute giving them up, Blackboard forced the governor of South Caro- 
on Charleston y in& to gen( j ^ m a f u jj SU pp] v f suc h medicines and provisions 

as he stood in need of. Then he went off to North Carolina. 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



87 



The affair with Blackbeard seems to have made 
the governor vigilant, and later in the same summer, 
hearing of another pirate on the coast, he sent two 
armed ships in pursuit. The newcomer was none 
other than the famous Stede Bonnet. He was 
found at the mouth of Cape Fear River, where a 





Adjustable candlestick 



English 
debtors' 
prisons 



fight began, in the course of which all the ships went 
aground. The first to float was one of the govern- 
or's ships, and just as her captain was preparing 
for a hand-to-hand fight, the pirate surrendered, 
and with all his crew was hanged in chains. 

Just about the time that piracy disappeared 
from our southern coast, the last of the thirteen 

, colonies was created by King 

George II. It was then the cus- 
tom in Great Britain to imprison 
men and women for debt 
and to keep them in jail 
till they died, even though 
the sum of money they owed 
was but a few pennies. Now 
it so happened that James 
Oglethorpe, a gallant sol- 
- dier and officer of dis- 
tinction, having lost a friend 
in the debtor's prison at 
London, gave his attention 
- to the jails and the suf- 
- fering of the prisoners. 

Oglethorpe was so 

horrified at what he saw 

Colonial china closet that he made up his mind 



88 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



The thirteenth 

colony 

planned 




Creek Indian 



Georgia 
settled 



help these unfortunate people, and persuaded 
the government to set them free provided they 
settled in America. He might have taken 
them to one of the thinly inhabited old colo- 
•^ nies, but he thought it best to make a new 
colony, and it so happened that just at that 
time a new one was much needed. Great 
Britain claimed our coast as far south as the 
St. Johns River in Florida ; but the strip be- 
tween the Savannah and the St. Johns was 
wholly uninhabited by white men and was in dan- 
ger of being occupied by the Spaniards, who still 
Leld St. Augustine. 

Oglethorpe, as an old soldier, saw the need of 
keeping the Spaniards out, 
and decided to plant his 
colony south of the Carolinas, and make 
it serve three purposes. First, it would 
be a home for distressed debtors, and 
give them a chance to begin life anew. 
Second, it would be a shield or buffer 
for South Carolina against the Spaniards. 
Third, it would open a fur trade with 
the Creek Indians. 

Some rich men were next interested 
in the plan, a company was formed, the 
King granted the country between the 
Savannah and the Altamaha rivers, and 
Oglethorpe with a band of settlers sailed 
across the Atlantic to Georgia, as he 
called the new colony, and founded the 
city of Savannah. People from New Colonial mirror 




government 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 89 

England, Germans, and Scotch Highlanders soon followed, and 
to Savannah, in the course of a few years, were added three 
other settlements, and Augusta, a little fortified post in the 
heart of the Indian country. There the English came in con- 
tact with French traders who had wandered all the way from 
Canada in search of furs. 

Both in Georgia and the Carolinas the attempt of associ- change in 
ations of men to manage colonies did not succeed. The pro- 
prietors of Carolina sold their province back to the King a few 
years before Georgia was founded, and finally Georgia also was 
returned to him. Thus all the colonies south of Maryland 
were royal provinces. 

SUMMARY 

1. For a long time there were no colonies south of Virginia, when King 

Charles II. gave a tract of land called Carolina to eight of his friends. 

2. These proprietors or owners founded Charleston. 

3. At first North Carolina (where some Virginians had settled) was not cut 

off from South Carolina; but in time the great province of Carolina 
was divided into two. 

4. During their early years these colonies were infested by pirates. 

5. About the time the pirates were driven off, James Oglethorpe obtained a 

grant of land from King George and founded a colony called Georgia. 



CHAPTER X 

SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 

Thirteen colonies had now been planted along the Atlantic The thirteen 
coast by the English or had come under English control. 
These were the four New England Colonies of New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut ; the four Mid- 
dle Colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and 




90 SHALL FRANCE OK ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA ? 

Delaware ; and the five Southern Colonies of Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. They 
were settled mostly by Englishmen, but 
also by Dutch, Swedes, Germans, Welsh, 
Scotch-Irish, and French Huguenots. 

Flintlock pistol ' & 

We have seen that some of these colo- 
nies were owned by the King, as the Carolinas ; others by pro- 
prietors — Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. We have 
seen the reasons why people came to this country ; as, a desire 
to worship God as they pleased, or a desire for trade, or a hope 
of bettering their worldly condition. We have seen, also, some 
of the hardships and dangers that the early settlers met. 

We must now notice a few of the famous events in colonial 
history, and learn something about a few famous men. We shall 
see that Indian wars and the dangers and hardships of frontier 
life were not the only things that troubled the New England 
people. Rulers who should have been their best friends were 
little better than enemies, and one such ruler was King Charles 
II. As we have seen (page 63), he took away New Hampshire 
from Massachusetts and made it a separate ro} r al colony. He 
next demanded that 
Maine, which Massa- 
chusetts bought from 

the heir of Gorges, "* 3 *"^ Blunderbuss 

should also be given up to him. He was willing to buy it, but 
the people of Massachusetts would not sell. Thereupon for 
this and other reasons he took away their charter. 
a charter To understand what this charter was, we must remember 

1. That all the land in America claimed by the English was 
supposed to belong at first to the King to do with as he 
pleased. 




SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 



91 



That it had pleased the King to give the soil of Massachu- 
setts to the Massachusetts Bay Company, and also to give 
this company, or the settlers, the right to 
govern themselves. 

That the boundaries of the land he gave, 
and the rights the people should have, 
were written down on a piece of 
parchment and signed by the King. 




Indian tomahawks 



Now, this written and signed 
parchment was the charter, and 
when the King took away the 
charter, he claimed that the peo- 
ple had lost the right to govern 
themselves, and that he was free 
to rule them as he pleased. 

King Charles II. was a tyrant, and was beginning to govern Governor 
harshly when he died. His brother James (the owner of New 
York) then became king and demanded the charters of Rhode 
Island and Connecticut. Rhode Island gave up her charter; 
but Connecticut did not, and when Sir Edmund Andros, the 
royal governor of New England, came to Hartford and de- 
manded the parchment, an amusing thing happened. The 
rulers of Connecticut were determined that he should not have 
it, and kept up the discussion with Andros till it was dark and 
the candles had been lighted. Then, upon a sudden, the 
candles were put out, and when they were lighted again, the 
charter, which had been lying on the table, was gone. Captain The charter 
Wadsworth had carried it off, and, it is said, hid it in the 
hollow of an oak tree, known ever after as the Charter Oak. 
The tree blew down many years ago, and the spot is now 
marked by a monument. 



92 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 




SCALE OF MILES 



New England and Acadia 



Charters 
restored 



King 
William's 
War begun 



Though Andros did not get the charter, he ruled Connecti- 
cut as he pleased, and the King soon placed the whole country 
from New Jersey to Maine under his control. 

But James did not remain king long. The people of 
England drove him from the throne, and made his nephew 
William and his daughter Mary king and queen (1689). 
Then Connecticut and Rhode Island again governed them- 
selves under their old charters, and Massachusetts was given 
a new one. 

James went to France, and the French King made war 
on England. In our country this war was called King 
"William's War, and was soon followed by other wars between 
the French and the English. Thus in this country there was 
fighting for nearly forty years to decide whether the French, 
who owned Canada and the valley of the Mississippi, or the 
English, who held the Atlantic seacoast, should rule over 
America. 



SHALL FRANCE OK ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 



1)3 



The fighting began a year before William became king 
with some attacks by the English on the Indians in Maine. 
The Indians of course attacked the English settlements in 
return, and even had William never been king there would 
surely have been a great war with them and their French 
friends. But just then France and England went to war over 
the exiled King James, and the conflict in America began in 
earnest. 

If you will take a map of our country and draw a line from 
Penobscot Bay, in Maine, to Albany, in New York, you will 
have the New England frontier at this time. Now, if you 
notice where the rivers of this region rise and in what direction 
they flow, you will see how easy it was for the French and 
Indians to follow down these river valleys from Canada to 
attack the English frontier towns and settlements. One of 
these was Dover in New Hampshire, then on the very edge 
of the frontier. Like most such settlements, it was an open 
village guarded by blockhouses, to which the people were to 
come in times of danger. 

At these blockhouses some squaws appeared 
one evening in January, 1689, asked leave to 
stay all night, and were admitted. But in the 
dead of night, when all was still, they rose 
quietly, undid the bars, opened the doors, and 
gave a loud whistle. Instantly a band of war- 
riors that had crept into the village sprang up, 
rushed into the houses, and began a horrible 
massacre. Then, after plundering and burning 
the houses, they marched twenty-nine captives off 
to Canada and sold them to the French as 
slaves. This was in return for the English 
custom of selling Indian prisoners into slavery. a squaw 



The New 
England 
frontier 




94 SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 

Among the prisoners was a little girl named Sarah Gerrish, 
seven years old. Once started on their homeward journey, the 
Indians, as was their custom, first divided their prisoners, and 
then split up into separate bands. The band to which little 
Sarah belonged took her to their village, where her owner sold 
her to another Indian, who went off with her to Canada. On 
the way she suffered much from cold and hunger. At Quebec 
the wife of a French officer, moved by pity, bought her and 
placed her in a convent, 
colonists What happened at Dover was repeated at several other 
Quebec places by Indian war parties sent by the governor of Canada. 
The colonists then struck back by sending soldiers and a fleet 
of ships from Boston to take Quebec. They failed, but the 
commander of the fleet rescued little Sarah Gerrish by giving 
a French prisoner in exchange. 

In this way the war went on for eight years. Town after 
town was laid waste; men, women, and children were slain, 
tortured, or carried into captivity. One day in the early spring 
of 1697, as a farmer named Thomas Dustan was riding from his 
Haverhm home in Haverhill to his farm, he saw Indians in the distance. 
At his home, a mile from the nearest garrison house, were his 
wife Hannah Dustan, a nurse Mary NefT, and eight children. 
Turning about, he had just time to gallop home and bid the 
children run for the blockhouse, when the Indians were upon 
him. Keeping the enemy at bay with his gun till the children 
had gone some distance, Mr. Dustan then rode after them, 
turned about, and again kept back the pursuers while his little 
family trotted bravely on, and repeated these tactics till all 
were safe in the garrison house. 

The Indians burned the farmhouses, and, leaving many 
murdered settlers lying in the smoking ruins of their homes, 
plunged into the woods with thirteen captives. Mrs. Dustan 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE LN AMERICA? 



95 



and Mary Neff were among them, and fell to the lot of an Hannah 
Indian family of two braves, three women, seven children, 
and an English lad, Samuel Leonardson, who for a year and 
a half had been a prisoner in their hands. The presence of 
this boy made escape seem possible, and Mrs. Dustan deter- 
mined to make the attempt. 

The next night, accordingly, when the Indians were sleep- 
ing, the two white women and Leonardson rose, hatchet in hand, 
and in a few minutes' time killed all save one old squaw and 
one boy. Gathering up the guns and tomahawks, they next 
destroyed all the canoes except one, in which they paddled 
down the Merrimac River to Haverhill. 
The story of their adventures spread 
through all the colonies and every- 
where the people praised them. 

The peace which ended King 
William's War lasted but a little 
while. The French and the 
English were soon fighting 
once more, and, as Queen Anne 
was then on the throne, the 
colonists called the long strug- 
gle of twelve years Queen 
Anne's War. 

Again the French and Indi- 
ans swept along the New Eng- 
land frontier year after year, 
burning, torturing, massacring. 
Haverhill was again laid waste ; 
Deerfield in the Connecticut valley 

was burned, and many of its inhabitants were killed or car- 
ried into captivity. 




Monument to Mrs. Dustan 



96 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 




Bs£> 



'""-.--'%-A 



Deerfleid As Deerfield lay in the valley of a great river which rose 
near Canada and offered an easy highway for hostile bands of 

French and Indians, most of the 
forty houses of Deerfield had 
been surrounded with a high 
stockade. But long freedom 
from attack had made the in- 
habitants careless. The stock- 
ade had fallen somewhat into 
decay, and, as the winter of 
1704 was very severe, the 
settlers believed they were 
quite safe. They had allowed 
the snow to pile up in great 
drifts against the stockade, 
But cold and bitter as the 
winter was, it did not prevent a band of Indians and Cana- 
dians from marching down the valley to destroy Deerfield. 
• On arriving at the town and finding no watch, a few Indians 
in the dead of night climbed one of the snowdrifts, dropped 
inside the stockade, undid the bars of the gate, and let in their 
companions, who rushed in, screeching and whooping like so 
many fiends, and began the work of slaughter. 
The captives The horrors of that fearful night and the sufferings of the 
long march to Canada have been told by one of the captives, 
John Williams, in a very famous book, "The Redeemed Cap- 
tive Returning to Zion " ; and in a museum at Deerfield is still 
kept a door, through which the Indians chopped a hole in order 
to shoot the people in the house. Only two houses were left 
standing ; the rest were burned, and in or around them lay the 
bodies of nine and forty settlers. A hundred others were car- 
ried off as prisoners. In time sixty were exchanged, and among 



Old "Lndiaa house," Deerfield 

and kept no watch at night. 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 



97 



them Mr. Williams. But strangely enough, his ten-year-old 
daughter was adopted by one of the tribes, lived with it, married 
an Indian, and refused to return to'her own people. 

Success, however, was not wholly with the French. The English take 
English attacked the eastern coast of Maine (then held by the Acadia 
French), and before the war ended, captured the Acadian town 
of Port Royal, which they named Annapolis, and still hold. 

When peace came, the French gave up Acadia, or most of a period of 
what is now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Deserted by peace 
their allies, the Indians made 
peace and signed a treaty 
binding them never again to 
harm the settlers. 

A long peace of thirty 
years now followed for 
France and Great Britain, 
but not for the New England 
frontier. The war over, 
great numbers of settlers 
moved eastward to rebuild 
the desolated towns of Maine, 
and to make new settlements 
upon the rivers. The arrival 
of these settlers, building 
forts, blockhouses, and homes 
on land the Indians claimed 
as their own, made new trou- 
ble, and again and again 
brought on border wars in 

Maine. But for the country in general there was peace, and 
France turned it to good use. It was clear she could not con- 
quer the colonies. She must therefore confine them to the 




Door of old "Indian house" 
{Now in the Deerfield JIuseum) 



98 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 



Growth of 
New Orleans 



coast, else in time they would surely cross the mountains into 
the Mississippi valley. 

We left the story of the French in our country, you will 
remember, after learning that La Salle had explored the Mis- 
sissippi to its mouth, and that the French had occupied Mobile 
Bay, and started New Orleans. 

The site of New Orleans was chosen by Bienville, one of 
those great French explorers, soldiers, and frontiersmen who 
did so much to spread French rule in America. The spot 
when he first saw it was a piece of low land on the banks 
of the Mississippi River, covered with cypress swamp and 
liable every year to be flooded with the waters of the 
great river. But Bienville felt that a city must be 
built on the river somewhere near its mouth, and as no 
other site was more favorable he selected this, sur- 
rounded it with a high, strong bank of earth to keep 
out the waters, and with a strange band of French 
criminals and workmen and a few merchants from 
Canada, made a clearing, put up a few cabins, and 
| named the place New Orleans. 

Unpromising as was its start, the place grew, and 
by the end of ten years some sixteen hundred people 
were within its mud walls. With a few exceptions 
they were men — soldiers, trappers, galley slaves, or 
redemptioners. Very few women as yet found a 
home in the town. The French King therefore determined 
to do for New Orleans what the Virginia Company did a 
hundred years before for Jamestown, and sent over a ship 
loaded with sixty young women to become the wives of the 
better sort of the population. They were in the charge of 
casket giris nuns and had each received from the King a little trunk full 
of clothing. Later other shiploads of maidens came, and the 




French soldier 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 



99 



of forts 







Sally port, old French tort, Annapolis 



girls with trunks were long known by the proud name of 
" casket girls." 

While these things were happening at New Orleans, the The chain 
French were equally busy up the val- 
ley of the Mississippi, planting 
towns, and building, on the 
high bluffs and along the 
shores of the Great Lakes, a 
line of forts which in time ex- 
tended from Mobile and New 
Orleans to Montreal and Que- 
bec. The purpose of this chain 
of forts was to shut the British 
out of the Mississippi valley and all approaches to it. But the 
French were also determined to recapture Annapolis and Nova 
Scotia if they could, and as a step toward this they built the 
fortress and town of Louisburg on a fine harbor on the south- 
east coast of the island of Cape Breton. The fortress was very 
large and was so strong that the French believed it could never 
be captured. 

It took twenty-five years to build the fortress Louisburg, King George's 
and soon after it was finished, France declared war on Great War 
Britain (1744). There was fighting both in Europe and in 
America ; but the war on this side of the ocean was called by 
the colonists King George's War, because George II. was then 
King of Great Britain. The struggle dragged on during four 
years, and in the course of it Louisburg, which the French Louisburg 
boasted could be defended by women, was besieged and cap- 
tured by New England militiamen. But their toil and blood- 
shed was all wasted, for on the return of peace Great Britain 
gave Louisburg back to France, and affairs in America were 
left much the same as before. 



100 SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 



CHAPTER XI 



The French 
claim lue 
Ohio valley 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA ? (Continued) 

With their flag once more waving over Louisburg, and nc 
territory in the New World lost, the French again made ready 
to keep the British out of the Mississippi valley. As the Brit. 

ish were planning to settle, 
the Ohio valley, the governor 
of Canada sent a band of sol- 
diers to take formal posses- 
sion of that region. Starting 
from a place near Montreal, 
the party in twenty - three 
birch canoes paddled up the 
St. Lawrence, crossed Lake 
Ontario to the Niagara River, 
carried their canoes on their 
backs around Niagara Falls, 
and paddled some distance 
along the southeastern shore 
of Lake Erie. At the mouth 
of a small creek the party 

The upper Ohio valley . „, T , „ . , ,, . 

left Lake Erie, moved their 
food, canoes, and baggage across to Chautauqua Lake, and 
paddled down the lake and its outlet to the Allegheny and so 
to the Ohio. 

Once on the Allegheny, the work of taking possession began. 
As the party floated along it would stop at the mouths of big 
streams to nail a tin plate to a tree and bury a lead plate in 
the earth at its roots. On the plates fastened to trees were the 
arms of France ; on those hidden in the ground were inscrip- 




SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 



101 



tions stating that the King of The lead 
France owned the Ohio River and plates 
its branches, and all the land that 
shed water into them. 

The French arms were probably 
soon pulled down from the trees ; 
but two of the buried plates have 
since been found. One day, about 
fifty years afterward, while some 
boys were swimming in the Ohio, 
they saw a great plate of lead stick- 
ing out from the bank of the river. 
What it was they did not know; 
but it was made of lead, and taking 
it home they melted half of it to 
make bullets. The other half is 
now carefully preserved, and is 
shown in this picture. Another of 
Half of one of the lead plates the lead plates, unearthed by a 

freshet, was likewise found by a boy who was playing on the 

river bank. 

But the French knew very well that something more than French forts 

burying plates was needed to keep out the British, so they 

began to build log forts. One was put up 

where the city of Erie now stands, and two 

others on the upper waters of the 



Allegheny River. 

When the governor of Vir- 
ginia heard of this, he was 
greatly alarmed, because Vir- 
ginia claimed to own the Alle- 
gheny valley. He decided to 

McM. PR. H. 7 





fwliilt 



Fort Le Baeuf, in the Allegheny valley 



102 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 



command the French to leave, and finally chose as his messen- 
ger a young Virginian, George Washington. 
George This man, whom we know as the most honored of Americans, 

as ing on w ^ g k om on y eDruai y 22, 1732, in Virginia. He was a big, 
strong, active boy, fond of outdoor life, afraid of nothing, and 
much given to doing whatever he had to do in the best way he 
knew how. For a while he thought of going to sea, in the 
hope that he might some day become the captain of a trading 
vessel. But the idea was not carried out, and Washington 
fitted himself to be a land surveyor. 

Now there lived in Virginia at that time an English noble- 
man named Lord 
SES 



Fairfax, who owned 
a vast estate on what 
was then the fron- 
tier. Attracted by 
the manly qualities 
of the young sur- 
veyor, Lord Fairfax 
employed him to 
survey his lands, and 
works as a at sixteen years of age Washington plunged into the Avilderness 
surveyor and began his work. 

So well did he do it that Lord Fairfax procured for him the 
place of public surveyor and the rank of major in the militia, 
and started him on his career. But he was soon called to pub- 
lic service of a greater sort. When it was known that the 
French were in the Allegheny valley, Governor Dinwiddie of 
Virginia sent a messenger to warn them to depart. But the 
messenger was not equal to the task. He was afraid, and, when 
one hundred and fifty miles away from the French forts, turned 
back. Plainly a brave man was needed, and, on looking about 




Greenway Court, home of Lord Fairfax 



SHALL FKANCE UK LNGLAJND KULJi IN AMEK1UA ? 



103 



for one, the governor was advised by Lord Fairfax to choose 
Washington. The advice was taken, and Washington was 
chosen. 

He set out at once with a few followers, made his way across Takes 
swollen streams and through dense, unbroken forests, found {^French 
the French, delivered the governor's letter, and started home 
in the dead of winter. New difficulties now beset him. The 
Indians tried to kill him and came near doing so. He was 
almost drowned while crossing a river and nearly frozen when 
he got out. But he escaped all dangers and brought back a 
report of what he saw at the French forts, which in- 
creased the alarm of the governor of Virginia. 

It was clear that if the British wanted the valley 
of the Ohio they must do as the French were doing. 
They must build forts in it and hold it by force of 
arms. This the governor of Virginia determined to 
do, and a regiment of troops were hurried off to 
establish a fort just where the city of Pittsburg 
stands to-day. Of this regiment Washington was 
lieutenant colonel. But the colonel died on the 
way, and Washington took command. 

While the regiment was getting ready to march 
through the wilderness, a small party went on in 
advance to build the fort and have it ready when the 
soldiers arrived. But one day in April, 1754, while 
they were hard at work, the French came down the 
Allegheny River and drove them away. 

The messenger bearing this bad news met Washington and 
his troops making their way through the forest, cutting the 
first road that ever led down the western slope of the Appa- 
lachian Mountains. Some men would have gone back. But Be g' ns 
Washington pushed on, defeated a small party of the French, Indian war 




French soldier 



104 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 




and then retired to a narrow glade in southwestern 

Pennsylvania, called the Great Meadows. There he 

built Fort Necessity, where the French attacked him 

and forced him to surrender, on the 4th of July, 1754. 

He was allowed to go back to Virginia. 

Thus was started one of the most important 

wars in our history. The colonists called it the 

French and Indian War because they fought 

Frenchmen and Indians. But it was really 

the last struggle between the French and the 

British for the possession of America. We 

have seen how the Dutch conquered the 

m Swedes in the Delaware valley. We have 

seen how the English conquered New Nether- 

land. Now the British and the French were to 

fight for the greater part of North America. 

Both sides knew this and made ready for the 

The French prepared to defend their land. The 

Braddock-s British made the attack, and sent over Braddock, one of their 

expedition ^^ g enera i Sj to command the British and American troops. 

He came to Virginia; made Washington one of his aids; and 

started to capture Fort Duquesne, as the French called the post 

they had taken from the Virginians. 

Southwestern Pennsylvania was then a wilderness. No 
road led through the woods, so Braddock was forced to have 
one cut by the troops as they went along. This made the 
* march very slow. Nothing happened till the army was about 
eio-ht miles from the fort, when suddenly the road choppers 
saw what looked like an Indian leaping and bounding through 
the bushes in front of them. He was not an Indian, but a 
French officer in Indian dress, and was leading an army to 
attack the British. Waving his hand in the air, he disappeared ; 



British soldier 

struggle. 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 105 



and in a moment his French and Indians, hidden in bushes and Braddock' 
behind trees, fired on Braddock's men. The British fought defeat 
bravely ; but Braddock would not let them hide behind trees 
in Indian fashion, and their red coats were a fine mark for 
their enemy. So many were shot that a retreat was ordered. 
Then Braddock fell wounded, and the retreat became a flight ; 
and had it not been for Washington and the Americans, who 
checked the enemy, all the British would probably have been 
killed. A few days later, Braddock died of his wound. 

And now for three years the French and Indians had the 
best of the fighting. Then the tide turned, and the British British 
began to win victory after victory. They took Fort Duquesne, vlctories 
which was soon named 
Fort Pitt in honor of 
a great man then 
prominent in the 
British government. 
They took the for- 
tress at Louisburg a 
second time. Finally 
a young officer named 
Wolfe captured Que- 
bec. 

The fortress of 
Quebec stood on the top of a very high hill whose steep sides Quebec 
rose from the edge of the river. To climb the heights in the 
face of an enemy would have been impossible. But Wolfe sent 
his ships and troops up the river above Quebec, and one night 
in September, 1759, he and his soldiers got into boats, floated 
downstream to the foot of the bluff, climbed up, and in the 
morning his army stood ready for battle on the Plains of Abra- 
ham, as the level land behind the city was called. The French, 




Modern Quebec 



106 



SHALL FRANCE OR EMiLAM) HULK IN AMERICA ? 



led by Montcalm, came out to attack the British, and one of the 
great battles of the world was fought. The British won, and Que- 
bec was taken ; but among the dead were Wolfe and Montcalm. 




J'ainting by Benjamin lies/ 



Death of General Wolfe 



Montreal was next taken, and the struggle for America be- 
tween France and Great Britain was ended. When the war 
began, France owned Canada and claimed all the valley of the 
Mississippi River, from the Appalachian Mountains to the 
Rockies, and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of MexicOo 
When the war ended, France gave Great Britain all of Canada 
(except two little islands near Newfoundland) and all of our 
country which she claimed east of the Mississippi, except New 
Orleans and a small region about it (1763). 



SHALL FRANCE OR ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 



107 



Up to this time 
Spain owned Florida. 
But in the war she 
had taken sides with 
France, and Great 
Britain had captured 
Havana. To get 
back Havana, Spain 
now gave Great Brit- 
ain Florida in ex- 
change. But France 
repaid Spain for this 
loss by giving her 



H 




Oldest house in St. Augustine 



New Orleans and the country round about, and all the country 
west of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains. So North 
America was then divided between Spain and Great Britain, 
with the Mississippi as the boundary, down to New Orleans. 

And now again peace between France and Great Britain was Trouble with 
not followed by peace for all the colonies. In the region given he ndians 
up to Great Britain between the Appalachian Mountains and 
the Mississippi, dwelt many tribes of Indians, old friends of the 
French and bitter haters of the English. The moment these 
Indians heard that the French must leave their country, and the 
English were coming in, they were easily persuaded to join in 
a war to drive the English back. 

The leader in the new border war was Pontiac, one of the Pontiac's 
greatest Indians known to history, and nobody saw more clearly War 
than he did the difference between the two white races in the 
way they behaved in the Indian country. The French built 
rude forts, made friends with the Indians, married Indian 
women, and supplied the tribes with whatever was wanted in 
return for furs. The English built villages, killed the game, 



108 



SHALL, FRANCE UK ENGLAND RULE IN AMERICA? 



The back- 
woodsmen 



cut down the forests, made roads, planted farms, and looked on 
the Indian as a wild beast. To Pontiac the coming of the 
English meant the ruin of his race, and with wonderful skill 
he quickly roused the tribes of the Northwest, took the warpath, 
and swept the country from Lake Michigan to Pennsylvania. 

Along the frontier of Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
and Virginia, were then scattered a hardy class 
of men who were by turn farmers, hunters, 
and fighters, as occasion required. Rough, 
brave, glaring ; caring nothing for the refine- 
ments of city life ; dressed in moccasins, 
leggings, and hunting shirt of deerskin, 
they made their clearings, built their log 
huts, and, rifle in hand, ranged the forest 
at will. Here and there at long intervals 
small stockaded forts, with a few cabins 
and houses, or thick-walled buildings like 
the garrison houses of New England, had 
been built, to which, in times of danger, 
the settlers came for refuge ; but along 
the Pennsylvania frontier even these rude 
defenses were few. 

Now that the French had been driven from America, these 
backwoodsmen supposed that a long period of peace was be- 
fore them, and had gone back to their farms and clearings, 
had planted their crops, ami were cutting their hay, when 
Indian war parties burst upon them from every valley. It 
was the old story of surprise, treachery, massacre, burning, 
and torture. 

The general commanding the British forces in the colonies, 
with all the haste he could make, sent relief expeditions to 
Fort Niagara, to Detroit, and to Fort Pitt. That sent to Fort 







A backwoodsman 



SHALL FRAJMCL UK LJSIULAND ROLL IN AMERICA? 



109 



Pitt was in the charge of Colonel Henry Bouquet, a bold and 
daring soldier. 

Hearing of the coming army, the Indians who were attack- 
ing Fort Pitt instantly slipped away, and, hurrying eastward 
some twenty miles to Bushy Run, hid in the bushes to await 
the troops, who came upon them one scorching afternoon in 
August, 1763. The battle which followed was most desper- 
ate ; but the Indians were put to flight, and the army went 
slowly on to Fort Pitt. 

This cleared the frontier of Pennsylvania. Another army 
sent the following year along the lake frontier to Detroit 
quieted the Indians in that region. But to sweep back the 
red men, recover the sites of the burned ^^W. forts, and 
rebuild and garrison the block- ^si^^?SS^w houses 
was not enough. The strong- 
hold of the enemy must be 
invaded. Bouquet accord- 
ingly took up the task, and 
in the autumn of 1764 led 
an army from Fort Pitt into 
what is now Ohio, forced 
the Indians to submit, made 
them give up two hundred 
prisoners, and went back 
in triumph to Fort Pitt. 



Battle of 
Bushy Run 



The Indians 
subdued 




; -r? r ?^^ r| "^ c ""'' > "' T? &%, -. ~"" 



Redoubt at Fort Pitt, still standing 



SUMMARY 

The King of England took away the charters of Massachusetts and 
Rhode Island ; and for a short time the whole country from New Jersey 
to Maine was placed under one royal governor — Andros. 

When William and Mary came to the English throne, war broke out be- 
tween the French and the English colonies, and was known as King 
William's War. 



110 COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 




3. This was soon followed by 
Queen Anne's War, dur- 
ing which the English 
colonists captured Nova 
Scotia from the French. 

4. During the peace which fol- 
lowed, France made ready 
to shut the British out of 
the Mississippi valley, and 
was building a chain of 
forts from New Orleans 
to Montreal, when King 
George's War opened. 

5. After peace France built a 
chain of forts in the Alle- 
gheny valley from Lake 
Erie to the Ohio River. 

6. This alarmed the British 
and brought on the French 
and Indian War, in which 

the French were forced to abandon North America, giving to the 
British Canada and the part of Louisiana east of the Mississippi. 

7. Spain was forced to give Florida to Great Britain, but received from 

France the Mississippi valley west of the river, with New Orleans. 

8. The departure of the French from the Mississippi valley and the Great 

Lakes was followed by an Indian uprising led by Pontiac. 



Old tower, Fort Marion, Florida 



CHAPTER XII 

THE COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 

New The greater part of the country France surrendered to 

provinces Q rea t Britain in 1763 was a wilderness in which very few 
white men lived. But. some parts of the new British posses- 
sions were inhabited by white men, and the first thing Great 




COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 111 

Britain did was to make, out of these, the three provinces of 
Quebec, East Florida, and West Florida. She next drew a line 
around the sources of the rivers which flow into 
the Atlantic Ocean from New England to 
Florida, and forbade the Americans to settle 
west of that line. The country west of the The Indian 
line was set apart for the Indians. country 

Great Britain did these things in order that 
her colonies and provinces might be more easily 
A% ^ governed. She also wanted the people to stay 
. . . _. near the seaboard and not wander into the 

Stamp used in 1765 

region beyond the mountains. If hemmed in 

near the coast, it was thought, the colonies would in time 

become thickly settled and would buy great quantities of 

British manufactures. 

But the colonies and provinces must not merely be governed, Plans for 
they must also be defended. The Indians must be kept in anarmy 
order, and everything must be in a state of defense in case 
France and Spain tried to get back their lost territory. Great 
Britain proposed, therefore, to send over an army of regular 
soldiers to be scattered over the country. This would 
cost a great deal of money, and King George III. and <^i£i# 
Parliament decided that part of the money should be *v , AT~~"^ S V 
raised in two ways : by forcing the colonists to pay fJ^ \ 

taxes on all the molasses, sugar, and coffee they im- 1 I CDnyj 
ported ; and by requiring them to print all newspa- ^^qv^^^V 
pers and write all legal documents on paper made in «_« 

England and stamped and sold by government offi- 
cials. The law requiring this was the Stamp Act. ^^Jo* 

The colonies then had agents in London, and one 
of them was Benjamin Franklin. He was born at Boston nearly 
sixty years before this time, and was the son of a candle maker. 



112 COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 



Benjamin When he was ten years old his school days were over, and for a 
Frankim w hii e } ie cu £ w icks, molded candles, tended shop, ran on errands, 
and talked of going to sea. But the father opposed this, and 
bound Benjamin as apprentice to an elder brother, under whom 
he learned ... ~- - to set type and did his share in print- 

ing the second newspaper in America. 
When seventeen he left his brother, 
and made his way to New York, 
in search of work. Finding none, 
he crossed to the Jersey shore and 
walked to the Delaware River, 
where he boarded a boat and 
rowed to Philadelphia. There in 
time he opened a printing house 
of his own, published one of the 
best newspapers in all the colonies, 
issued every year a very famous 

Printing press of Franklin's time j.^ b()ok kn()wn aR oyer th(J cq1o _ 

nies as Poor Richard's Almanac, and took an active part in 
everything that benefited his fellow-citizens. He founded a 
library, and an academy which has since grown to be a great 
university. He proved that lightning in the clouds and the 
electricity by which we ring bells, are one and the same ; and 
invented the lightning rod and a stove still known by his 
name. The King appointed him deputy postmaster for the 
northern colonies ; his fellow-citizens elected him to the legis- 
lature, and when somebody was needed to plead the cause ot 
Pennsylvania in London, the legislature sent Franklin to do it. 
In company with agents from other colonies Franklin now 
appeared before the minister and did all he could to prevent 
the passage of the Stamp Act, but in vain. " Depend upon it, 
my good neighbor," 1 he wrote home, " I took every step in my 




COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 113 



power to prevent the passage of the Stamp Act. . . . But Accepts the 
the tide was too strong against us. . . . We might as well amp 
have hindered the sun's setting. That we could not do. But 
since 'tis down, my friend, 
and it may be long be- 
fore it rises again, let us 
make as good a night of 
it as we can. We may 
still light candles." 

But the people were 
not willing to accept dark- 
ness and " light candles " 
as Franklin said. When 
the news came that the 
Stamp Act had passed 
Parliament, and would be 
a law in the colonies on 
the first day of November, 
1765, there was great ex- 
citement everywhere. In 
Virginia a famous scene 
occurred. The legisla- 
ture was debating a set 
of resolutions declaring 

the stamp tax unjust. One of the speakers was Patrick Henry, Patrick 
and a greater orator did not then live in the thirteen colonies. nry 
Henry was born in Virginia a few years after Washington, 
grew up on one of the smaller plantations, and seems never 
to have given the slightest sign of being more than a very 
ordinary boy. He hated study and loved the woods and 
streams, and when he was ten had made so little progress at 
school that his father became his teacher till he' was fifteen, 




Benjamin Franklin 



114 



COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 



when he was apprenticed to a storekeeper, and then started 
with his brother in a store of his own. But he was quite 
unfit for business. Instead of making money he lost it, and 
was next placed on a small farm. lie proved to be a poor 
farmer, and went back to storekeeping and once more failed to 
succeed. Those who knew him might now have thought him 
good for nothing. But like many another man great in our 
history, he had not yet found what he could do. 

In desperation Henry now turned to law, and after reading 
a few legal books went before the lawyers to be examined for 
permission to practice law, and with great difficulty got it. 
But now at last he had found his true work. Business came 
to him, and when one day a case was brought to him because 
no other lawyer would argue it, he took it, and made so elo- 
quent a speech that all who heard him knew that a great orator 
had arisen among them, 
what Such was the fame of this case that Henry was elected to 

Virginia did tne Virginia legislature just at the time of the Stamp Act 
troubles. The question before it was, Shall the 
b ^4 law be obeyed ? The wealthy 

i^M^k^' anc ^ i m P ortant men thought 
V: they would say yes, and 
). were much displeased 
when Henry said no. His 
speech was not written 
down, so we know little of 
it, but those who were present 
describe it as wonderful, and have 
preserved for us one sentence. Recall- 
ing to his hearers the fate of tyranni- 
cal rulers who had been killed in old times, he said, "Caesar had 
his Brutus ; Charles the First his Cromwell ; and George the 




$S?&i.*^r-' 



Old Capitol of Virginia 
{Where Patrick Henry made his 
famous apt ecK) 



COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 115 

Third" — "Treason ! treason! treason ! " shouted the mem- 
bers ; — "and George the Third," continued Henry, "may profit 
by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it." 

The legislature finally passed a resolution that the Virgini- 
ans were not bound to obey the law. 

In Massachusetts the people were so much in earnest that stamp Act 
the legislature asked the colonies to send delegates to a con- Congress 
gress at New York. This body of men (known as the Stamp 
Act Congress) adopted, signed, and issued a Declaration of 
Rights and Grievances, which stated : — 

1. That the Americans were subjects of the British crown. 

2. That it was the natural right of a British subject to pay no 

taxes unless he had a voice in laying them. 

3. That the Americans were not represented in Parliament. 

4. That Parliament, therefore, could not tax them, and that 

an attempt to do so was an attack on the rights of Eng- 
lishmen and the liberty of self-government. 

Meanwhile certain men had been appointed in the colonies The stamp 
to sell the stamped paper. The people next called on these Actresisted 
men to refuse to sell the paper, and, if they would not, used 
force to make them do so. The merchants in the great cities 
next signed an agreement not to import any goods from Great 
Britain, and the people pledged themselves not to buy any 
British goods for some months to come. 

This hurt the British manufacturers, and they raised such 
a clamor that Parliament repealed the stamp tax, that is, 
stopped it. When the colonists heard of this, they were 
greatly pleased. All trouble, they thought, was now over. 
But they were much mistaken, for the very next year Parlia- 
ment laid taxes on glass, paint, oils, and tea imported into New taxes 
the colonies. 



116 COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 



Tea at Boston 



Thus the right to tax the colonies was once more claimed, 
and the people again made ready to resist. But how should 
they resist ? By refusing to buy British goods. Such action 
had led to the repeal of the stamp tax. Like action would 
surely lead to the repeal of the new taxes. The old agree- 
ment not to import and not to use British goods was there- 
fore renewed all over the colonies. Parliament stood out for 
three j^ears, but then it took off all the taxes except that on tea. 
At that time a company, called the East 
India Company, had the sole right to bring tea 
to Great Britain. But it could not send any 
to America. It must sell the tea and let others 
take it to the colonies. But the Americans 
had stopped buying tea from the British mer- 
chants, who for this reason bought less tea from 
the East India Company, and an immense quan- 
tity was lying in its warehouses. 

Parliament, in order to help the company, 
now gave it leave to send tea to America. The company accord- 
ingly sent over shiploads of tea to Boston, New York, Philadel- 
phia, and Charleston. But it was required to pay a duty of 
three pence a pound ; the tea, therefore, was taxed, and the 
Americans would have none of it. " If Parliament may tax 
one article, it may tax all," said they. 

"When the first tea ship arrived at Boston, she was made fast 
to a dock and guarded by the people, who insisted that her 
captain should take her back to London. This he was quite 
ready to do ; but the officers of the King would not give her a 
paper called a "clearance," and without a clearance the ship 
would not be permitted to pass the fort and the men-of-war in 
the harbor. Under the lead of Samuel Adams the people then 
asked the governor to order the officers to let the ship go. 




Flag of the East 
India Company 



COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 



117 



Samuel Adams was a native of Boston, was about fifty years Samuel 
old at this time, and had long been prominent in public affairs. Adams 
For twenty years past he had been serving his native town in 
all manner of ways — as a tax collector, as a fire warden, as 
moderator of the town meeting, as one of a committee to visit 
schools, and see that chimneys were prop- , erly inspected, 
and that due care was taken to prevent 
small pox, and as member of the legislature 
Services like these made him well known, 
which, he discharged his duties made people 
and when the stormy times of the Revolu- 
fellow-townsmen naturally turned to him 
sought his counsel, and listened to his 
wrote articles for the newspaper, ex- 
acts and aims of Great Britain, defend- 
ple, and pointing out the kind of resist- 
should make ; and now when resistance 
made, it was Samuel Adams that led 

The governor, however, refused to 
customs officers to let the ship go, and 
while the people were meeting and 
discussing what next to do, two 
more tea ships arrived. This made 
the people more excited than be- .; 
fore, and at a great meeting at 
the Old South Meetinghouse one 
morning in December, 1773, it 
was resolved that the ships must 
go out of Boston harbor that very 

afternoon. A committee was then sent to the customhouse to 
demand a clearance, and when the officers again refused, the owner 
of one of the ships was sent to ask a pass from the governor. 




the spread of 

of the colony. 

The way in 

trust in him, 

tion came, his 

as to a leader, 

advice. He 

plaining the 

ing the peo- 

ance they 

was to be 

the way. 

:der the 






Old South Meetinghouse 



MOM. PR. h. — ! 



118 COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 



£ 



c 




gi:.'/::« uaaaf. ' 

^e aim uraa&i? t k &//t j;u<! msn siBSt-jot sSoififtji 






The "Tea Party Tablet," on Long 
Wharf, Boston 



X' 



Boston Night had fallen and the candles had been lighted when this 

Tea Party man 1 - e turned, to find the people still waiting before the build- 
ing. They were not surprised to hear that the governor refused 

_ . to give a pass to take the 
ships out of the harbor un- 
less a clearance was first 
obtained. As nothing more 
could now be done, the 
meeting broke up, and the 
people were returning to 
their homes, when a band 
of men dressed like Indians 
hurried through the streets 
of the city to the wharf 
where the three ships lay, 
leaped on board, and with hatchets smashed in the side of every 
box and emptied the tea into the water. 

At New York, the tea ships were stopped and not allowed to 
come up the harbor. At Charleston, the tea was stored for 
three years and then sold by the state of South Carolina. At 
Philadelphia, the people met at the statehouse and passed reso- 
lutions calling on the merchants to whom the East India Com- 
pany had sent tea not to receive it. The river pilots were next 
asked not to pilot the tea ships up the Delaware River. This 
done, the people waited quietly for the arrival of the ships. 

At last, on the evening of Christmas Day, 1773, a horseman 
rode into town with the news that a ship with tea on board was 
really coming up the river. The next day was Sunday, but the 
people were so excited that a party of citizens rode down the 
river bank to warn the captain not to come near the city. On 
Monday all business was stopped, the stores were shut, and a 
great meeting was held at the statehouse yard. Then it was 



Tea at 
other cities 



COLONIES QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY 119 




First 

Continental 

Congress 



resolved that the tea should not be landed. The captain was 
ordered to go back to London, and in twenty-four hours was on 
his way to sea. 

For their acts of resistance, Parliament now resolved to The Boston 
punish the colonies, and began with Massachusetts. The port ort B,li 
of Boston was closed — that is, no ship was to be . allowed to 
go into or come out of Boston harbor — till U the people 
asked pardon and paid for the tea that was de- Jm stroyed 

But the colonists were not fright^" 
The whole country felt sorry for 
people of Boston. Their cause be 
came the country's cause, and 
soon men from twelve of the 
colonies met in Carpenter's 
Hall at Philadelphia to con- 
sider what should be done. 
This body, known as the 
First Continental Congress, 
sent a petition to the King, 
asking him to put an end to 
the grievances of the colonies. 
It then called for a second 
Continental Congress to meet at „ ; - — .. 

Philadelphia in May, 1775. 

Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia 



3. 



SUMMARY 

In order to defend the colonies Great Britain proposed to send over an 

army and have the colonists help to pay the cost. 
Money was to be raised by new duties aud by a stamp tax on newspapers 

and legal papers. 
As the colonists had no representatives in Parliament, they refused to 

pay the stamp duties, and agreed not to buy British manufactured 

goods. This forced Parliament to repeal the stamp tax. 



120 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



4. But Parliament soon laid new taxes on glass, paint, oils, and tea. Again 

the colonists refused to buy British goods, and soon all the taxes were 
repealed except that on tea. 

5. As the people would not import tea, it was sent over. At some places 

the ships were forced to sail away. At Boston men disguised as 
Indians threw the tea into the water. 

6. For this, Parliament punished Boston. But the colonies sided with 

Boston, and the First Continental Congress met at Philadelphia in 
1774. 

CHAPTER XIII 

THE LONG FIGHT FOB INDEPENDENCE 



SCALE Or MILES 

1 | _X 1 




to o 

y i A&6%rT Boston « ,-■ ."&, 







„«i 



Gage in 
Massachusetts 



During the seven 
months' interval be- 
tween the First and 
the Second Continen- 
tal Congress, the colo- 
nies and the mother 
country came to blows. 
The people of 
Massachusetts, fear- 
ing that trouble would 
come, had begun to 
collect and hide pow- 
der, shot, guns, and cannon. General Gage, who commanded 
the British troops in Boston, and had been made governor of 
Massachusetts by the King, was well aware of this, and several 
times tried to seize the supplies and destroy them. But the 
patriots were too quick for him. Thus, one day in February, 
1775, Gage sent a band of soldiers from Boston to Salem with 
orders to seize some cannon. Not finding any, the troops 






Country around Boston 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



121 



started for a town near by ; but while marching along, they 
came to a bridge guarded by Americans under Colonel Picker- 
ing. The British attempted to pass. Colonel Pickering said 
the bridge was private property and refused to let them go on. 
A fight seemed at hand, when a minister who was present 
reminded the people that the day was Sunday, and the British 
were allowed to proceed. They found no cannon. 

Some time after this, officers were sent to find where the 
patriots did hide their cannon. They reported that guns, 
cannon, and powder had been collected at Concord, a town 
about twenty miles from Boston. Gage, therefore, ordered 
some British soldiers to go and destroy these stores, and 
on the evening of April 18, 1775, they set off as quietly 
as possible. But the Boston patriots had suspected that 
soldiers would be sent, and had agreed on a signal to be 
used when needed to notify the people in the country. If 
the British did go, lights were to be shown from the tower 
of the Old North Church : one lantern if they went by 
land ; two lanterns if they went by water. 

The British went by water. Two lights were there- 
fore hung out on the church steeple, and riders were 
sent galloping off in the darkness to arouse the country. 
It was believed that the British not only intended to 
destroy the stores, but were going to capture two active 
patriots, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were 
then at Lexington. Toward Lexington, therefore, 
one of the riders, Paul Revere, made all the haste 
he could. Galloping along from town to town, 
he would stop at the door of some patriot farmer, 
wake him up with the cry " The regulars are Jm 
out," and leaving him to arouse his neighbors, 

Would ride on. Old North Church 



The signal 




122 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



Lexington Thus it came about that when the regulars reached Lexing- 
ton, about dawn on the never-to-be-forgotten morning of April 
19, 1775, they found a little company of patriots drawn up and 




Painting by A. 11. Mcknell 



Battle of Lexington 



Concord 



ready for them on the village green. " Disperse, ye villains ; 
ye rebels, disperse," said the commander of the King's troops. 

Instead of dispersing, one of the patriots pulled the trigger 
of his musket. It failed to go off. The next moment the 
British fired, and sixteen men fell, killed and wounded. The 
Americans now fired, and one British soldier was killed. But, 
seeing they were greatly outnumbered, the Americans made 
no more resistance, and the British marched on to Concord, 
But there Paul Revere had aroused the people, who were gather- 
ing fast on the hillsides. 

Leaving a guard at the bridge across the Concord River, the 
British began to destroy the cannon and powder collected by 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



123 



retreat 



the patriots. While they were doing this, firing was heard at 
the bridge. The Americans had attacked the guard. Hurry- 
ing up to aid their companions, the British saw such a host 
of angry and determined men that they began to retreat toward 
Lexington. 

Meanwhile, news of the fight at Lexington at sunrise had The British 
spread like wildfire. The whole country was in arms. The 
people were in waiting along the road the British must take, 
and they poured a deadly fire on the retreating enemy. 

The Americans were stationed in buildings near the road, 
and behind trees and stone fences, so that the British could not 
shoot them. Indeed, the British soon began to run, and they 
might all have been killed or captured, had not a body of fresh 
troops met the regulars at Lexing- 
ton. With the help of these the 



British reached Charlestown at 
sundown. But the patriots came 
in from every side, so that in a 
few days great crowds of them 
were gathered about Boston, 
where they shut in Gage and the 
British army. 

When the Second Continental 
Congress met at Philadelphia in 
May, 1775, Massachusetts asked 
it to adopt the men gathered 
about Boston, as a Continental Army. There were New Hamp- The 
shire men, Massachusetts men, Rhode Islanders, and men from £°^ y nen 
Connecticut. Each band was a sort of little army with its own 
commander. 

Congress, seeing that the war had really opened, did as it 
was asked and formed these bands into a Continental Army ; 




Concord Bridge and Monument 



124 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 




Flintlock mus- 
ket and car- 
tridge box 



" Battle of 
Bunker Hill' 



and appointed George Washington as commander in chief. 
He started at once for Boston. But he had not ridden far 
from Philadelphia when he heard that a great battle had 
been fought near Bunker Hill. 

A short distance north of Boston, and just behind 
Charlestown, were two small hills. The nearer of the two 
to the American army was Bunker Hill. Just beyond it 
and nearer to Boston was Breeds Hill. The Americans, 
hearing that the British intended to fortify the hills, sent 
a body of soldiers, under Colonel Prescott, one night in 
June, to take possession of Bunker Hill. But Prescott 
went on to Breeds Hill, and quickly built a large earth- 
work. At daylight the British fired on it from their ships, 
but the Americans worked on, making a long trench and 
bank to protect themselves in the coming fight. 

About three o'clock in the afternoon the British, having 
come over from Boston, formed in line at the foot of 
Breeds Hill and began to march up. The Americans 
had very little powder. Prescott and General Israel 
Putnam, who were in command, urged them not to 
waste any. " Save your powder," was the order. 
" Men," said Putnam, " you are all marksmen. Don't one of 
you fire till you see the whites of their eyes." On came the 



forms, their faces, 
ute. They were 



British, nearer and nearer. Their uni- 
grew plainer and plainer every min- 
within three hundred feet, two hun- 
dred feet, one hundred feet, before the 
order " Fire ! " rang out. 

Then the Americans fired, killing 
so many British that the rest hurried Putnam's plow 

down the hill in disorder. But the British officers rallied their 
men, and led them back up the hill. They were again thrown 




THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



125 



into disorder by- 
obliged to re- 
a third time 
A third time 
powder of the 
bayonets, they 
muskets and 
could end in 
forced to re- 
Although 
Hill, as this 



the steady fire of the Americans, and 

tire. Their courage was splendid, and 

their officers led them to the attack. 

the Americans met them. But now the 

Americans was gone, and, having no 

fought desperately with the butt ends of 

with stones. Such an unequal fight 

but one way. The Americans were 

treat. 

the British won the battle of Bunker Result of the 

fight is called, their loss was dreadful. 

" Two more such victories, and Great 

Britain will have no army left 

in America," said a great 

French statesman. " Did 

the militia fight? " exclaimed 

Washington, when on his 

way to Boston he heard of 



battle 






that they 



Bunker Hill Monument 

the battle of Bunker Hill. When assured 
fought splendidly, he said, " Then the 
liberties of the country are safe." 
And this was the great lesson of 
Bunker Hill : that the American farmers 
would fight for their rights and would 
fight against the regular troops of 
Great Britain. 

During the next eight months the 
Continental Army, with Washington ^J 
in command, surrounded Boston. It 
took a long time to drill the men and - -.-'" 

collect Cannon and powder. But at Washington Elm at Cambridge 
. ___ , . it- (Where Washington took command of 

last Washington was ready to drive the army) 




126 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



new govern- 
ments 



British leave the British out of the town, and was just about to do it, when, 
under General Howe, they boarded their ships and sailed away, 
colonies form All authority of the King and Parliament was now ended in 
the colonies. The royal governors had fled, or had been put 
into prison. The patriots in every colony, hoping that the 
s , !V-«*~! i ^^ss=S^— — _ King might yield, had established tem- 
_ porary governments, which they 
called Committees of Safety, Pro-= 
vincial Congresses, or Provincial 
lr Assemblies. But now it was very 
certain that unless the colonies were 
beaten in the war they never again 
would be under the British Crown. 

The Continental Congress, there- 
fore, advised the colonies to set up 
permanent governments. One by one 
they did so, and thus turned them- 
selves from British colonies into 
American states. Up to this time 
there had been thirteen colonies ; 
now there were thirteen states. 
But these state governments 
independence were to be made without consent of the King. What did that 
mean ? It meant that the states were to be independent of the 
King. Then why not say so ? Why not tell it to the whole 
world ? They decided to do so, and on July 2, 1776, Congress 
passed this resolution, moved by R. H. Lee of Virginia : — 

"Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved 
from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political 
connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, 
and ought to be, totally dissolved." 




Where the Declaration was signed 
(Independence Hall, Philadelphia) 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 127 

This settled the matter. The colonies were now independ- Declaration of 
ent. The next step was to tell or declare that fact to the impendence 
world, and so a declaration of independence, which had already 
been drawn up, was next voted on. " "When, in the course of 
human events," says the Declaration, "it becomes necessary 
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con- 
nected them with another ... a decent respect to the opinions 
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes." It 
was this decent respect which had led Congress to select 
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger 
Sherman, and Robert Livingston to prepare the Declaration of 
Independence, telling the world why the United States were 
independent of Great Britain. 

Jefferson wrote the Declaration, and on the 4th of July, 
1776, Congress adopted it, and ordered copies 
sent to the states. 

To declare independence was 
one thing ; to force Great Britain to 
acknowledge it was another thing, and 

.. n it 'r J.11.L Jefferson's desk 

more than nve vears passed beiore the last .. ».i n , ,. .„ . 

J r (On whioh Declaration teas written) 

British army surrendered to Washington. 

When General Howe and the British troops sailed away from British take 
Boston, Washington did not know where they would go next. NewYork 
But he thought it might be to New York, so he hurried there 
with his army. Sure enough, after several weeks the British 
fleet sailed up the bay. Howe found the Americans intrenched 
on Brooklyn Heights. His first attempt to drive them away 
failed, and before he could make a second, Washington crossed 
the river under cover of a fog, and retreated up the Hudson. 

While the British were encamped near Brooklyn, Washing- 
ton wished to know how many soldiers there were in the 
enemy's camp, and how they were arranged. To get this 




128 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



Nathan Hale information, somebody must go into the camp and look about 
him. Such a man would be a spy, and, if caught, would be 
hanged. But a young officer named Nathan Hale volunteered 
to go. Leaving the American headquarters near New York 
city, he went to Connecticut and from there crossed the Sound 
to Long Island. Making his way to Brooklyn, he spent a few 
days in the British camp taking notes, and then returned to 
the north shore of Long Island to await a chance to cross the 
Sound to Connecticut. One day, seeing a boat coming toward 
shore, he went down to meet it, thinking it was from Connecti- 
cut, but he was recognized by a relative who sided with the 
British, and was delivered to Howe. 

Hale was treated with great harshness. He was not allowed 
to send a letter to his mother, nor to read his Bible, nor to 
have a minister visit him. He was a spy, and he was hanged 
like a criminal. When about to die he said, " I regret 
that I have but one life to lose for my country." 
These words are now carved on the pedestal of a 
statue erected to his memory not far from the spot 
in New York city where he died. Hale is known 
as the Martyr Spy of the Revolution. 

From New York Washington passed up the 
Hudson a few miles, crossed the river, and led his 
army through New Jersey. The British pressed 
him hotly. Discouraged by cold, hunger, and 
defeat, many of the soldiers deserted, and the 
ranks grew thinner every mile. But Washington 
reached the Delaware River in safety, and crossed 
■ao^ into Pennsylvania. 

Affairs were now in a desperate state, 

and Washington seemed almost disheartened. 

statue of Nathan Uaie Americans who took the side of the King 




THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



129 



were called Loyalists or Tories, and there were plenty of them The Tories 

in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The army got 

so little help from the people that 

the patriot cause seemed likely to 

"remain for some time under a 

cloud," as Washington wrote to 

his brother. 

But the cloud, dark as it was, 
soon lifted. 

To prevent the British from 
crossing the Delaware after him, 
Washington collected all the 
boats for miles along the river. 
So the British commander, when 
he reached the Delaware, finding 
no means of crossing, resolved to 
wait till the river was frozen and 
then march over on the ice. 
But while he waited Washington 
acted, and on Christmas night, 
1776, recrossed the Delaware to 
make an attack on some German 
soldiers who had been hired by 
the King to fight for him ; — as many of these soldiers were victory at 
from a part of Germany called Hesse, they are known as Hes- Trenton 
sians. The night was bitterly cold, and the river was full of 
great blocks of floating ice. But with splendid courage Wash- 
ington crossed with his little army, and at daylight fell on the 
Hessians at Trenton, beat them, and took one thousand prisoners. 

A week later Washington won another victory, at Princeton, Princeton 
ten miles from Trenton, and then marched on to the hills at 
Morristown, where his army passed the winter. 




Hudson and Delaware valleys 



130 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 




Burgoyne't; 
surrender 



British take 
Philadelphia 



During the following summer (June, 
1777) the Continental Congress 
adopted the stars and stripes as 
l our national flag* The first flag 
of this kind was made by Betsy 
Ross at her house on Arch Street, 
Philadelphia. The building still 
stands and is carefully preserved 
as the birthplace of " Old Glory." 
The British now (1777) at- 
tempted to get possession of the 
Hudson River, and so cut off 
New England from the rest of 
- T the states. But when an army, 
under Burgoyne, came down from 
Canada by way of Lake Cham- 
plain, the Americans, under General 
Gates, captured it near Saratoga, 
New York, and the attempt failed. 

Meantime another British army sailed from New York to take 
Philadelphia. Washington hurried across New Jersey and met 
the enemy below the 
city ; but was de- 
feated on Brandy- 
wine Creek, and later 
at Germantown. The 
British then passed 
the winter in the city, 
while Washington 
and his army were 
camped not far away, 
at Valley Forge. Washington's headquarters at Morristown 



Betsy Ross house 




THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



131 



The suffering of the American army during the winter was The suffering 
terrible ; but let those who were there tell of it : " The army ^ Q J^ ley 
has been in great distress since you left," General Greene wrote 
to General Knox ; " the troops are getting naked. They were 
seven days without meat and several days without bread." 
" The men," said Baron Steuben, a brave German who came 
over to help us, " were literally naked, some of them in the 
fullest extent of the 
word." "For some 
days past there has 
been little less than 
a famine in camp," 
Alexander Hamilton 
wrote to the gov- 
ernor of New York. 
" I am now con- 
vinced beyond a 
doubt," said Wash- 
ington, " that unless 
some great change takes place this army must starve, dissolve, 
or disperse in order to obtain provisions." 

But these grand heroes would not disperse. They would Patience of 
starve rather than desert. Well did John Laurens say, " I J^^ a 
would cherish these dear ragged Continentals, whose patience 
will be the admiration of future ages." "To see men," said 
Washington, " without clothes to cover their nakedness, with- 
out blankets to lie upon, without shoes (for want of which their 
marches might be traced by the blood from their feet), and 
almost as often without provisions as with them, marching 
through the frost and snow, and, at Christmas time, taking up 
their winter quarters without a house or a hut to cover them 
till they could be built, and submitting without a murmur, is a 



iyv ¥ : -"•* '[, v :">&WM 




"> ' v? 


Ei*^^5f y 


"i XH 


■rim^nrnF -=-;S^Spp^£ 


: ^ r= ««■'"-"" jjflSjM 


ispHsPjfpfes- 




jgS^MK - 







Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge 



132 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



Franklin in 
France 



proof of patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce 
be paralleled." 

The winter at Valley Forge was the darkest period of the 
war. But the darkest hour, as the proverb says, is just before 
dawn. And so it was in 1778 ; for, while the army was starv- 
ing and freezing at Valley Forge, France came to the aid of the 
Americans. 

In the year 1776, Franklin and two other men were sent 
to France to ask for arms and money. Their arrival in France 
was followed by an outburst of welcome. Everywhere French- 
men were talking of the Stamp Act, Concord, Lexington, 
Bunker Hill. One young nobleman, Lafayette, left France 
against his king's orders, came to the United States, and served 

under Washington till 
the end of the war. 

Lafayette was not 
the only foreigner who 
took up arms on our 
side. Others of his 
countrymen did so, as 
well as the German 
baron, De Kalb, and 
Steuben, "the drill- 
master of the revolu- 
tionary army ; " and 
the Poles, Pulaski and 
Kosciusko. When 

Kosciusko was asked what he could do to help us, he answered 
quickly, "Try me," which greatly pleased Washington. 

Great as was the interest Frenchmen took in our struggle, 
Franklin was unable to get much aid from France till the arri- 
val of the news of the capture of Burgoyne. It was then cer- 




Intrenchments at Valley Forge 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



133 




Franklin at the French court 
(From an old engraving) 

tain that the Americans could fight, and early in 1778 the French France 
King acknowledged that the United States were no longer Brit- ™™ aidsus 
ish colonies, and made two treaties with the new country. 

War between France and Great Britain followed at once ; 
and when General Clinton, who now commanded the British 
in Philadelphia, heard that a French fleet was coming over, 
he started for New York. Washington hurried from Valley 
Forge and chased him across New Jersey to Monmouth, where Monmouth 
another battle was fought. Neither side won ; but during the 
night the British went on to New York. 

Washington followed and stationed his soldiers at several 
places about New York, in order to watch the British and be 
ready for whatever they might do next. In this way these 

MCM. PR. H. 9 



134 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



Wayne takes two generals and their, armies spent many months without 
stony Point figging anv great battles. Once Clinton grew bold enough 
to come out of New York and build a fort at Stony Point, 
on the Hudson River. It looked as if Clinton were about 
to push up the river to the American camp at West Point. 
Washington wished to prevent this, so he sent for Anthony 
Wayne, one of the most daring soldiers in the army, and asked 
him if he could storm Stony Point. Wayne said he could, and 
one dark night with a gallant band of men he did storm it, and 
carried off guns and prisoners, besides destroying the fort. 



Kentucky and 

Tennessee 

settled 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE (Continued) 

During the year 1778, while great things were taking 
/ place in Paris and in New Jersey, events of perhaps even 
greater importance were happening among the Indians on 
the far western frontier. 

Great Britain no sooner acquired the eastern half of 
the Mississippi valley from France, than backwoodsmen 
from Virginia and North Carolina began to cross the 
mountains to hunt and trap and make settlements in 
what are now Kentucky and Tennessee. Some, under 
Revolutionary Daniel B oone formed Boonesboro, in Kentucky. 

swords ' ° 

Others, under James Harrod, built Harrodsburg. 
Others, under William Bean and James Robertson and John 
Sevier, put up their cabins on a branch of the Tennessee 
River called the Watauga, in Tennessee. These settlements 
were not farms or little villages, but frontier forts or sta- 
tions. 




THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



135 




((T E N :.N E S /j^-S-'E'l '- jJfC-' 



The Ohio valley 



When a number of families went out under some leader to a frontier 
settle in the wilderness, they would select their ground, cut fort 

down the trees, and begin 
to build a fort, in the form 
of a square. One side of 
the square was formed by a 
row of log cabins. Around 
the other three sides, and 
between the cabins, was a 
stockade or high fence of 
huge logs placed side by 
side with one end thrust 
into the ground. In 
each of these sides were 
cut loopholes, and in 
one of them was a great door or gate that could be strongly 
barred when necessary. At the four corners of the stockade 
were two-story blockhouses. Within the stockade were the 
cabins whose backs formed one side of the fort, the sheds 
where cattle and provisions could be kept, and in the center 
of the square a strong blockhouse. This was the place of last 
resort. If the gate was beaten down, or if the stockade was 
destroyed by fire, it was to the central blockhouse that the 
inmates fled to defend themselves or die. 

To such stations the settlers came in time of war or when 
an Indian rising was feared. In time of peace they dwelt 
in log cabins on their farms or clearings, which were scat- 
tered over the country for miles around the fort. 

But peaceful days were few. The pioneers lived in con- 
stant war or dread of war with the Indians. Small bands 

of savages were generally lurking around the forts, killing' Revolu_ 
a o J _ & ' & tionary 

the men as they hunted in the woods or worked in the pike* 



136 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR LNDEl'ENDENCE 




Wooden canteen 



war with fields, and ready to carry off the women and children at the 
Indians g rst c i iance# Xhe history of those days is full of thrilling 
adventures, narrow escapes, and deeds of heroism. 
Thus some Indians attacked Fort Henry, on the 
Ohio River, one day when there were only twelve 
men and boys in the fort, besides a number of 
women and children. The white men fought 
bravely, firing through the loopholes and driving 
back the Indians at every attack. But after a 
while their powder was nearly all used up. 
Then the commander asked for a volunteer to go to a house 
outside the fort, where a keg of powder was stored. To go 
meant almost certain death ; but four young men at once 
offered. While they were disputing about it, a young girl 
named Elizabeth Zane said : " Let me go for the powder. You 
can not spare even one man. There are too few in the fort 
now. But if I am killed, you will be as strong as ever." 

As she persisted, the gate of the stockade was opened just 
wide enough to let her slip out. She ran to the house, filled 
her apron with powder, and started to return, before the Indi- 
ans guessed what she was doing. Then they fired at her again 
and again, till she got inside the gate. 
She was unhurt, and the fort was saved, 
for there was now powder enough to 
last till more white men came and drove 
the Indians away. 

The country, north of the 
Ohio River was claimed by 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
and Virginia; but in reality 

the region was as much British as the province of Quebec, to 
which it had been added by the King four years before. Over 



Country north 
>f the Ohio 




Revolutionary cannon 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



137 



it roamed some of the strongest and fiercest of the Indian tribes. 
It contained a few old French towns, — such as Detroit, Kas- 
kaskia, Vincennes, — and a few forts garrisoned by the British, 
whom the Indians looked upon as the successors of the French 
and the rulers of the land. At these forts and towns the 
Indians obtained their muskets and powder, and were aroused 
to attack the backwoodsmen of Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Anybody might see that these towns and forts ought to be George Rogen 
taken, that the country ought to be held by the United States, clark 
and that the Indians ought to be made to stop helping the 
British. But it was left for a young Virginian, George 
Rogers Clark, to make the attempt to do this. 

Clark began by sending spies to find out 
the strength of the garrisons ; then he 
formed a plan for a secret expedition to 
attack them suddenly and unexpectedly, 
and finally laid his plan before Patrick 

Henry, governor of Virginia, and a 

few others. They gave him what aid 

they could, which was little enough, 

and Clark with a hundred and eighty 

men went down the Ohio one thousand miles from Pittsburg, 

hid his boats near the mouth of the river, marched across the 

prairies, and took the town and fort of Kaskaskia without Takes Frenct 

resistance (1778). 

The French settlers, hearing from Clark that France was 
aiding us in the war, made him welcome, and Cahokia and two 
other towns likewise submitted. A Catholic priest then carried 
the news to Vincennes and persuaded the French in that town 
to surrender. 

The British governor at Detroit, learning of these things, 
set out with five hundred men, Indians and regulars, to conquer 




Powder house, Virginia 



towns 



138 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



the country again. After a long march through the wilderness, 
the troops appeared before Vincennes and occupied the fort. 
But Clark was equal to the emergency, and marching overland, 
in the dead of winter, he attacked the fort so vigorously that 
the British surrendered, and the governor and his soldiers 
became prisoners of war. 

Clark, acting for the state of Virginia, had now conquered 
the country around the Wabash and Illinois rivers. The con- 
quest was most timely, for, a few months later, a band of Span- 
iards marched from St. Louis to the head of the Illinois River, 
captured the British post of St. Joseph, and claimed the whole 
Northwest in the name of the King of Spain. 

Now let us see what, in the meantime, had happened in thb 
East. 

Having failed to conquer the Middle States in 177G-1778, 
the British next sent armies against the Southern States. 

Once before (in 1776), a fleet had appeared off 

Charleston, South Carolina, to attack it. But the 

British found Colonel Moultrie and his men behind 

two rows of palmetto logs with sand between, and 

after firing at this Fort Moultrie for a long 

time and doing no harm, the ships sailed 

away. While the battle was hottest the flag- 



staff was struck by a cannon ball, and flag 
and all fell outside the fort. Instantly a 
sergeant named William Jasper jumped 
down, picked up the flag, fastened it to a 
ramrod used to load one of the cannon, 
climbed back, and planted it firmly on 
the fort. 

The British were successful in their second attack on the 
Southern States, however, and Savannah was easily captured 




Jasper monument, Charleston 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



189 




CAR(MJU\A>/ V 

<5 




Part of the South 



(end of the year 1778). But before they could do more, a 
French fleet and an American army came to retake the town. 

While the ships bombarded from 
the water, the army, commanded by 
General Lincoln, tried to storm the 
British works by land. They were 
driven back, and among the dead 
were the brave Polish officer Pulaski, 
and Sergeant Jasper, who fell hold- 
ing in his hand the flag given him 
at Fort Moultrie. 

Georgia was now overrun by the British take 
British. Charleston was then taken Cnaileston 
and South Carolina overcome. Thereupon Congress sent Gen- 
eral Gates against the British. But they beat him at Camden 
in South Carolina, where the German officer, De Kalb, who was 
fighting for us, received eleven wounds, of which he died. 

It is said that when the British minister heard of 
the capture of Charleston and Savannah, he said, 
"We look on America as at our feet." But there 
were plenty of fighting men in the South who 
did not intend to be "at his feet." Led by 
Marion, Sumter, and Pickens, the men hid in 
the swamps and fought the enemy in every 
way they could. 

Marion's men were especially active. Their 
guns were such as hunters used. Their swords 
were made of pieces of saws from the saw- 
mills. They had no cannon, no forts, no place 
of safety but the woods and swamps. Indeed, 
the British called Marion "the Swamp Fox." 

From such hiding places he would come OUt One of Marion's men 




140 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



suddenly, attack a party of the enemy, and hurry back into 
the woods. When a strong force was sent to take him he 
could not be found. But in a little while he would appear 
in another place. 

With the British in possession of Savannah and Charleston, 
and all of South Carolina and Georgia in their hands, the out- 
look for the patriots 
was gloomy enough. 
But just at this 
moment an Ameri- 
can officer, Benedict 
Arnold, turned trai- 
tor and made it 
gloomier still. No 
officer had rendered 
greater services than 
Arnold. He had 
joined the army when 
it was before Boston ; 
had led a terrible 
march through the 
Maine woods to attack Quebec in the first year of the war; had 
distinguished himself for bravery in the attempt to capture that 
city ; and had fought desperately in a battle near Saratoga, thus 
doing much to capture Burgoyne. But in 1778 Arnold was 
put in command of Philadelphia, where he governed so un- 
justly that he was condemned to be reprimanded by Washing- 
ton. He was brave and daring in battle, but he lacked moral 
courage ; and, thirsting for revenge, he laid a deep scheme to 
injure the patriot cause. 

As part of this scheme he asked Washington for the com- 
mand of West Point, the great stronghold on the Hudson 




Ruins of a fort at West Point 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



141 




<2*i^ 



House at Tappan where Major Andre was 
imprisoned 



River. He received it, and at once formed a plan to give up 

the post to General Clinton, commanding the British at New Major Andre 

York. Clinton's agent, Major John , .. 

Andre, met Arnold near Stony 



Point one day in September, 

1780, to finish the plan. But 

as Andre was going back to 

New York he was stopped, '.<■' 

searched, and seized by <il 

patriot soldiers. In his 

stockings were found papers 

in Arnold's handwriting which 

revealed the plot. News of 

the arrest of Andre was at once 

sent to Arnold. It reached 

him as he sat at breakfast ; instantly rising from the table, 

he told his wife of his danger, and fled with all speed to a 

British ship down the Hudson. West Point was saved to the 

Americans. Andre was tried, convicted, and hanged as a spy. 

And now the dark hours of the war were over. Five days victory of 
after the hanging of Andre, a band of Tories, who were over- 
running South Carolina, were met at Kings Mountain by a 
swarm of hardy Southern mountaineers, and every one of them 
was killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. 

Victory then followed victory, and in a few months General General 

Greene, who had been sent to 
succeed Gates, drove the Brit- 
ish into Charleston and Savan- 
nah #nd recovered most of South 
Carolina and Georgia. 
A large British army, under Corn- 
Powder hom wallis, that had invaded Virginia, was 



Kings 
Mountain 



Greene 




142 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



Cornwallis 
surrenders 



End of the 
war 







$13 


K, 1 






M 





Moore house 
( Where ike Cornwallis surrender was arraityed) 



next forced to make 
a stand at York- 
town, which it began 
to fortify. While it 
was so engaged, 
Washington hurried 
from the neighbor- 
hood of New York, 
and with American 
and French troops 
surrounded the place 
by land, while a 
French fleet, under 
Count de Grasse, 



hemmed it in by sea, and forced Cornwallis to surrender, 
October 19, 1781. 

This was the last battle of the war. The British gave up 
the struggle, and in 1783 a treaty of peace was signed at Paris 
by agents of Great Britain and the United States. The men 
who represented us were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and 
John Jay. By this treaty certain things were secured : 



Terms of 
peace 



1 . Our country was admitted by Great Britain to be " sovereign, 

free, and independent." 

2. The boundaries of our country were stated as fully as 

possible. 

3. Citizens of the United States might catch fish in the waters 

of Nova Scotia and Canada just as they had done when 
British subjects. * 

4. Great Britain was to take away her troops. In November 

the last of the British army sailed away from New York 
city. 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE 



143 



SUMMARY 

1. War with Great Britain began in New England with the battles of 

Lexington and Concord and the shutting up of the British in Boston 
(1775). 

2. The Continental Congress adopted the troops around Boston as the Con- 

tinental Army, and made George Washington commander in chief. 

3. On his way to take command, Washington heard of a great battle at 

Bunker Hill, which showed that Americans could fight. 

4. The colonies now formed themselves into states, and these thirteen states 

were declared free and independent of Great Britain July 4, 1776. 

5. The British left Boston by water, and Washington hurried his army to 

New York. There he was attacked and driven up the Hudson, and 
finally across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. 

6. From Pennsylvania he crossed the Delaware on Christmas night, 1776, 

captured a thousand prisoners at Trenton, fought a battle at Prince- 
ton, and passed the winter at Morristown. 




Fainting by Rossiler and iliynot 

Washington and Lafayette at Mount Vernon 



144 A BETTER GOVERNMENT NEEDED 

7. When summer came, the British sent an army under Rurgoyne from 

Canada. The Americans captured it near Saratoga, New York. This 
led France to aid us. 

8. Meantime a British army sailed from New York to attack Philadelphia. 

Washington hurried to meet it; was defeated in two battles; and 
spent the winter at Valley Forge (1777-7S). 

9. As the British in the Northwest incited the Indians to repeated attacks 

on the American frontier settlements in Kentucky, George Rogers 
Clark led a band of Virginians into the wilderness north of the Ohio 
River and captured most of the British posts in that region (1778-79). 
10. The British finally turned their arms against the Southern States. In 
Georgia and the Carolinas they were successful at first, but afterwards 
were driven away by General Greene. At last a great army, under 
Cornwallis, was captured at Yorktown, Virginia, and the war ended in 
the fall of 1781. 



CHAPTER XV 

A BETTER GOVERNMENT NEEDED 

The treaty which ended our old troubles with Great Britain 
brought us new ones with Spain. You remember that during 
the French and Indian War, Spain fought against Great 
Britain; that Great Britain captured Havana ; and that to get 
it back, Spain gave her Florida in exchange, 
what Spain Now when France joined us in our war with Great Britain, 
Spain saw a chance to get Florida again, so she also declared 
war on Great Britain, in 1779, and sent two little armies to 
conquer the Gulf coast and the Mississippi valley. One went 
from New Orleans and took the British forts at Baton Rouge, 
Natchez, Mobile, and Pensacola (see map, p. 43). The other 
went from St. Louis, in the dead of winter, marched across 
what is now Illinois, captured the fort at St. Joseph, and took 
away the flags as proof of conquest. 



did 



A BETTER GOVERNMENT NEEDED 



145 



Having done all these things, Spain claimed that she owned what Spain 
the country from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi, claimed 
and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. When, 
therefore, the time came to make a treaty of peace at Paris, she 
insisted that the western boundary of the United States should 
be very nearly what is now the west boundary of Pennsylvania, 
Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia. 

We were quite willing to let Spain have Florida, but noth- 
ing more; so when 
the treaty was made, 
Great Britain gave 
her Florida and a 
strip along the Gulf 
of Mexico as shown 
in white on the sec- 
ond map on page 232. 
The great region 
x'rom the Atlantic to 
the Mississippi, and 
from Spanish Florida 

to the Great Lakes and Canada, became the United States. 
But, as we shall see later on, Spain for a time still claimed part 
of this territory. 

The immense wilderness won from Great Britain and Spain 
was claimed by seven of the thirteen states : Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, New York, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. 
The other six states had about their present limits. 

At the request of Congress, however, the states one by one western lands 
gave what were called their back lands to Congress, 
were to be sold, and the money used to pay the debts owed by 
the United States. The back lands were to be governed by the 
Congress, or in some way that Congress should decide upon. 




Mono Castle, Havana 



These « ivent0 

Congress 



146 



A BETTER GOVERNMENT NEEDED 




Where the 
people lived 



Stagecoach 



Now it so happened that the lands given 
by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New 
York, and Virginia lay between the 
Ohio River and the Great Lakes, 
Pennsylvania and the Mississippi 
Congress made this entire tract 
a territory, which it called the 
Territory of the United States 
Northwest of the River Ohio. 
Except at Detroit and Macki- 
nac, and a few other places where the French had settled, the 
territory was without white inhabitants, and was roamed over 
by Indians and wild beasts. As a matter of fact no part of our 
country was thickly settled. There are to-day more people in 
the city of New York than lived in the whole United States in 
1783. Most of the people then dwelt in the cities, towns, and 
villages, and on the farms and plantations, of the states lying 
along the Atlantic coast, and the different states had very little 
communication with one another. Travel, except by sea, was 
very slow and dangerous. There were no railroads, no steam- 
boats, no good roads, and no bridges over the wide rivers. 
Now, it takes five hours to go from Boston to New York. 
Then, it took six or even nine days. Now, you may go from 
New York to Philadelphia in two hours; then, it required 
two days. 

The chief occupations of the people were cod fishing, ship- 
building, and commerce, in New England; lumbering, agricul- 
ture, and commerce, in the Middle States; and, in the Southern 
States, growing tobacco, rice, and indigo, and making tar, pitch, 
and resin. 

Each one of the thirteen states had its own government, as 
it has to-day. But the control of the Indians, and some of our 



A BETTER GOVERNMENT NEEDED 



147 



dealings with foreign nations, as making war and peace, were Powers of the 
intrusted to the Continental Congress. congress 

There was no President of the United States in those days. 
The Congress was composed of a few men sent by the legisla- 
tures of the thirteen states. These men could do many things, 
but a little experience showed that they could not do nearly 
enough for the good of the country. 

Congress, for instance, could not tax the people for money 
with which to pay the country's debts. It could merely ask 
the states for what it wanted. But the states did not give all 
that was needed. 

Congress, in the next place, could not regulate trade with 
foreign nations; could not force them to treat us fairly. 
Neither Spain nor Great Britain would make a treaty of com- 
merce with us. 

Congress had no power to regulate trade between the states. 
As a consequence each state regulated its trade as it pleased. 
New York, for instance, treated Connecticut and New Jersey as 
foreign countries and laid heavy taxes on firewood that came 
from the one and on vegetables that came from 
the other. This angered New Jersey, 
who sent word to Congress that unless 
it forced New York to take off the taxes, 
she would not pay her annual share of the 
cost of the continental government. 

Each state had its own paper money, 
and this was not good in other states. 
Except gold and silver, of which very 
little was to be seen, there was no money 
that people all over the country would take. 
More than one state had to pass a law to force 
its citizens to use the paper money it issued. 




Chaise 



148 



A BETTER GOVERNMENT NEEDED 



The 

Constitutional 

Convention 



The 
Constitution 



Congress asked the states to give it power to remedy all 
these defects. For a while they would not ; but matters be- 
came so bad that, in 1787, delegates from twelve states met in 
Independence Hall at Philadelphia to consider what new powers 
should be given to Congress. 

These delegates were the most distinguished men in the 
country, and the names of many of them are still familiar. 
Among them were Washington and Madison, who afterwards 
became Presidents ; Elbridge Gerry, a future Vice President ; 
Ellsworth, who in time became Chief Justice of the United 
States Supreme Court ; Alexander Hamilton, a famous Secre- 
tary of the Treasury ; 
Robert Morris, who 
had helped to raise 
the money needed to 
carry on the Revolu- 
tionary War ; Ben- 
jamin Franklin and 
others who had 
signed the Declara- 
tion of Independ- 
ence ; and many 
others who after- 
wards held impor- 
tant places under the 
United States gov- 
ernment. Washington was made the president of the convention. 
These men drew up what is known as the Constitution of 
the United States. The Constitution is a written document 
which describes the plan of the general government under 
which we live. It fixes the powers of the President and tells 
how he shall be elected. It provides for a Congress composed 







Old windmill, Massachusetts 
(Still used) 



A BETTElt GOVERNMENT NEEDED 



149 




Pennsylvania Statehouse, or Independence Hall, in Philadelphia 

of two bodies of men — a Senate and a House of Representa- 
tives ; and it provides for United States courts. 

Congress has now all the power the Continental Congress 
ever asked for, and more too. It does not have to ask the 
states for money ; it lays taxes and has the sole power of coin- 
ing money, and it may regulate commerce with foreign nations 
and between the states. 

After the Philadelphia convention had made the Constitu- The new 
tion, copies were sent by Congress to the legislatures of the ^° v ^ nment 
states. Each state government then called a convention to con- 
sider the new plan and approve or disapprove of it, as seemed 
best. When nine states had in this manner approved it, the 

MOM. PK. H. 10 



150 



TROUBLE WITH FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN 




Constitution was to be supreme law as to the nine. 

Eleven approved within a year, and the two others a 

little later ; and the Constitution took the place of 

the Articles of Confederation, which had described 

the powers of the Continental Congress. The 

place of meeting of the new Congress was New 

York city, and there, in 1789, Washington was 

made the first President of the United States. 



Chair used by Wash- 
ington at bis in- 
auguration 



SUMMARY 



1. 



By the treaty of peace we acquired the territory be- 
tween the Atlantic and the Mississippi, the Great 
Lakes and Florida. 

2. The population was small and scattered along the coast, travel was dif- 

ficult and slow, and trade between the states was of little value. 

3. Each state had its own government as at present. But over all was a 

weak general government carried on by the Continental Congress. 
The plan of the general government was defective in many ways, and 
was finally replaced by the present Constitution of the United States. 



4 



aXKc 



CHAPTER XVI 



Our country's 
capital 



TROUBLE WITH FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN 

When Washington was made President, Congress met in 
New York city. But it was decided that a square tract of 
land, ten miles on a side, should be obtained somewhere, and 
on this tract a federal city should be built as a home for the 
government. In it were to be the President's house, the build- 
ing in which Congress should meet to make laws, and any other 
buildings that might be needed. Congress having decided that 
the federal city should be on the banks of the Potomac, the 





151 



152 



TROUBLE WITH FRANCE 



tract was laid out partly in Maryland and partly in Virginia, 
and was called the District of Columbia. The city was named 
Washington. 

But it would take some years to erect the buildings and 
form the city. Congress therefore decided that it would meet 
in Philadelphia for ten years before it went to Washington, 
where all sessions of Congress have been held since 1800. 

Not long after Congress met in Philadelphia a war broke 
out between France and Great Britain. Our country did not 
take sides with either. But France tried hard to force us to 
side with her, and, when she found we would not, she treated us 
so shamefully that when John Adams was President the whole 
country cried out for war. An army was raised and General 
Washington was called from his home at Mount Vernon and put 
in command. The people in the large seaports gave money for 
war ships, and volunteered to build forts and earthworks. 

In the midst of the excitement our national song " Hail 




- 
Washington's home at Mount Vernon, on the Potomac 



TROUBLE WITH FRANCE 



153 




French naval 
vessel 



Columbia" was written. Philadelphia, as the seat of govern- "Han 
ment, was a most intensely excited city. The citizens were 
divided into two bodies, each distinguished by cock- 
ades worn on their hats. Such as hated the Presi- 
dent and upheld France wore the red, white, and 
blue, or tricolor cockade. Those, who sided with 
the President and resisted the French insolence 
wore the black cockade of the Revolution. So 
high, did feeling run that if two excited men of 
opposite parties met in the street, each was 
pretty sure to try to snatch the other's cockade. 
In the evenings at the theater one party would call 
for " Yankee Doodle," and the other for a song that 
had been popular in France. 

This suggested to one of the actors the idea of 
finding some one to write a new patriotic song, and 
accordingly he applied to Mr. Joseph Hopkinson, who wrote 
" Hail Columbia " to suit a very popular piece of music called 
" The President's March," to which we sing it to this day. It 
was sung for the first time at Philadelphia one night in 1798, 
was printed in the newspapers the next day, and at once 
became a national song. 

Among other things, France demanded a tribute from us as if Navai war 
we were a conquered nation. The popular cry therefore became Wlth France 
" Millions for defense, not a cent for tribute," and when the 
navy began to beat the French in the West Indies, it was said 
we were giving them the only kind of tribute they deserved — 
shot and shell. 

The war was entirely on the sea, and after four of her 
naval vessels had been captured or destroyed, and great num- 
bers of merchantmen burned, France made peace with us in 
1800. 



154 



TROUBLE WITH GREAT BRITAIN 




Chesapeake 
and Leopard 



Our troubles with Great Britain and France having been 
thus settled, it seemed as if people might look forward to a 
long period of peace and quiet. But this was not to be. In a 
few years Great Britain and France were again at war, and the 

old troubles returned in 
a worse form than ever. 
British armed vessels 
came over to our coast, 
stopped our ships as they 
went in and out of our 
ports, and searched them 
for British sailors. 

An American packet 
or trader would sail from 
Boston or New York or 
Baltimore for Europe or 
the West Indies. But 
long before she reached her destination a British cruiser would 
appear and fire a signal gun. If no attention was paid, a shot 
would soon come skipping over the water and across the pack- 
et's bow, forcing her to stop. A boat would then put off, and 
an officer and a band of armed men would clamber upon the deck 
and order the captain to muster his crew. When the sailors 
were all in line, the British officer would pick out such men as 
pleased him, claim them as subjects of the King, and drag them 
off to his ship. 

This was called " impressment," because the men were 
" pressed " or forced to serve against their will. The patience 
with which we submitted to this treatment made the British 
bold, and one day as an American frigate called the Chesa- 
peake was on her way to the Mediterranean Sea she was fol- 
lowed by a British vessel, the Leopard, was fired on and 



Monticello, Jefferson's home (in Virginia) 



TROUBLE WITH GREAT BRITAIN 



155 



with Ameri- 
can trade 



forced to surrender, after which four seamen were taken from 
her deck. 

But impressment was not the only cause for complaint, interference 
Great Britain meddled with our trade and commerce. She 
ordered our merchants not to deal in certain kinds of goods, 
and stopped and searched their vessels to see that they obeyed. 
She forbade them to go to a great number of ports in Europe, 
and tried to seize such ships as continued to go to these ports. 

Nor did Napoleon, then Emperor of France and master of 
half Europe, treat us any better. He commanded our mer- 
chants not to send their ships 
to any port that was under 
the British flag. He seized 
numbers of our vessels in his 
own ports, and he declared 
that any vessel that submitted 
to be searched by a British 
cruiser should be captured 
wherever found. 

By 1807 matters had come 
to such a pass that our ships 
and goods were liable to be 
captured by somebody wher- 
ever they went. There was 
just one of two things then 
to do. We must fight for 
our rights on the sea, or we 
must abandon the sea. Upon the advice of Jefferson, who was 
then President, Congress decided to abandon the sea, and for The long 
more than a year an embargo was placed upon all merchant embarg0 
shipping; that is, no trading ships were allowed to go from au 
American port to any foreign country. 




- " - . .. ■ '■ 

Schoolhouse where Jefferson went to school 



156 



TltOUJiLE WITH GREAT BRITAIN 



The War of 
iBia 



It was supposed that this embargo, this O-grab-me, as the 
people called it, by spelling the name backwards, would force 
Napoleon and Great Britain to treat us better. The British 
and French could not buy our cotton, lumber, pork, flour, and 
other products, which were of great value to them. They 
could not sell their cloth, china, glass, hardware, tools, silks, 
wines, and a hundred other things in our cities. Yet the 
embargo had no good effect. Matters grew worse instead of 
better, and in 1812, when James Madison was President, Con- 
gress declared war against Great Britain. 

To fight Great Britain was a bold thing to do. For nearly 
twenty years she had been at war with France and with Napo- 
leon. In her navy were more than a thousand armed vessels. 
In her army were hundreds of thousands of soldiers. We had 
no army, and a navy of but sixteen ships. Yet the war dragged 

along for more than 
two years, and both 
on land and on sea 
the greatest triumphs 
were ours. 

The British cap- 
tured Detroit and got 
control of the North- 
west. But Perry 
captured the British 
fleet on Lake Erie ; 
McDonough destroyed another fleet on Lake Champlain ; Gen- 
eral Macomb beat the British at Plattsburg in New York ; 
and General W. II. Harrison beat them again on the Thames 
River in Canada, and recovered Detroit and the Northwest. 

At sea diiring the war thirteen important captures were 
made and but four serious defeats were suffered. One of the 




Part of the northern frontier 



TRUUULfc WITH GKEAT 1JK1TA1IN 



157 




Painting by W. H. l J owtll 



Perry's victory on Lake Erie 



successes 



American ships captured was the unlucky frigate Chesapeake 
that six years before had been attacked by the Leopard and 
had had four sailors taken from her deck. She was now 
captured by the Shannon. 

Toward the end of the war, Great Britain sent over a fleet British 
and blockaded the whole coast, shut our vessels in port, and so 
put an end to our sea victories. One part of this fleet captured 
eastern Maine ; another with an army on board sailed up the 
Chesapeake Bay, where the troops landed and marched to 
Washington and burned the Capitol, the President's house, and 
some other public buildings. 

Returning to their ships, the soldiers were carried to Balti- 
more, which was attacked by land and water. It was during 
the bombardment of a fort defending Baltimore that Francis 
Scott Key wrote " The Star-Spangled Banner." Under a flag 
of truce he had gone on board one of the British ships to secure 



" The Star- 

Spangled 

Banner" 



158 



TROUBLE WITH GREAT BRITAIN 



Andrew 
Jackson 



the release of some prisoners taken by the British, and was 
himself held prisoner during the bombardment, which lasted 
all one day and part of a night. The scene from the deck of 
the enemy's "vessel must indeed have been inspiring, and 
aroused by it he wrote the poem which has since been a 
national song. The opening lines describe the scene : — 

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous tight, 
On the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming ; 
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. 
O say, does the star-spangled banner yet wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ? 

Finding they could not take the fort and capture Baltimore, 
the British again went on board their ships, sailed away, and 
joined another fleet and army that was to attack New Orleans. 
But the Americans, under General Andrew Jackson, were 
more than a match for them. 

Andrew Jackson was born in North Carolina, and when a 
boy of fourteen was taken prisoner by a band of British troops 

and Tories who were 
roving about the 
state during the 
Revolutionary War. 
( )ne of the officers, 
wishing to have his 
1 x K >ts cleaned, ordered 
young Jackson to do 
it ; an order which 
the lad stoutly re- 

The Hermitage, Jackson's home (in Tennessee) fused to obey. In- 



'st^S^HiiWrViSSbL 






A '.jm! 




u&B R * * 








W'M 








i» 61m TMmbM mi 






PHBpB? 1 








He 


■I Ulrffn r " 






-t-i«-H9M 











TROUBLE WITH GKKAT BKITA1M 



isy 




Table of Jackson's time 



stead of admiring the pluck of the boy, the officer aimed a 
blow at him with a sword. Jackson drew up his arm to ward 

off the blow, and received a 
gash, the scar of which he car- 
ried through life. 

After the War for Inde- 
pendence Jackson removed to 
Nashville, then a little stock- 
- aded fort far out on the 
frontier, and was soon known 
as a man of courage and 
determination. For a while after Tennessee became a state he 
was a member of Congress. Next he was a judge, and when 
the war with Great Britain opened, he raised a regiment of 
volunteers. But his services as a soldier began when the 
Creek Indians took the warpath and attacked the whites. 

These Creeks lived in what is now Alabama, and had long The creek 
been preparing for an attempt to drive out the 
whites ; and in 1813 they dug up the hatchet and 
drove the settlers from their farms to the little 
frontier forts. Into one of these, called Fort 
Minis, not far from Mobile, were gathered sev- 
eral hundred men, women, and children, when a 
thousand Indians, painted, naked, well armed, 
and led by their prophets carrying red sticks 
and bags of magic, suddenly attacked it. 

The defense was desperate ; but the In 
dians won, and massacred nearly all of 
the inmates. As soon as news of the 
awful deed reached Tennessee, troops 

were called out, Jackson was put in Calash) a woman - s headdress 
command, and in a few months' time worn in Jackson's time 



/ 




War 



1HU 



TEOUBLB WITH GKKAT HKITA1N 



Treaty of 
peace 



he destroyed the Indian power and made peace on his own 
terms. 

This exploit made Jackson so famous that he was put in 
command of the army along die Gulf of Mexico ; and he was in 
New Orleans when the British landed in the swamps below the 
city. Two little fights took place at once. But the famous 
battle, the anniversary of which is celebrated even in our day, 
was fought on January 8, 1815. 

The Americans were behind a long line of intrenchments, 
and were, almost every one of them, frontiersmen and fine 
shots with s*. a rifle. The British were veteran troops, were 
led by able generals, and came bravely on 
to the attack. But the Americans de- 
livered a dreadful fire, which drove 
the British back with terrible 
slaughter. It was the old story 
of Bunker Hill, with a happier 
ending, for the British were de- 
feated and after a while sailed 
away. One of the results of the 
victory of New Orleans was to 
make General Jackson well known 
to the people, so that, fourteen 
years later, he was elected President of the United States. 

When the battle was fought, a treaty of peace with Great 
Britain had already been signed at Ghent in Holland. But 
ocean travel was slow in those days, and news of peace did not 
reach the United States for a month after Jackson's victory at 
New Orleans. This treaty of Ghent said nothing at all about 
the impressment of sailors or about the rights of trading ships : 
but since then our ships and sailors have not been illtreated as 
they were before the war. 





Battle of New Orleans monument 



BU1LU1JMG THE WEST 1(51 

SUMMARY 

1. France and Great Britain were at war, and France illtreated us because 

we would not side with her. At last war with France began ; but 
after a few naval battles in the West Indies she made peace with us. 

2. The United States had three complaints against Great Britain. She 

" impressed " our sailors ; searched our ships ; interrupted our com- 
merce. Failing to get satisfaction for these wrongs, we went to war. 

3. The fighting was along the Canadian border ; along the Atlantic coast ; 

on the ocean ; and at New Orleans. 

4. Along the Canadian border the British were at first victorious. But the 

American victories of Perry on Lake Erie, of Harrison on the Thames 
River in Canada, of McDonough on Lake Champlain, and of Macomb 
at Plattsburg, more than made up for the defeats. 

5. Along the seacoast the British blockaded the ports, burned the public 

buildings at Washington, attacked Baltimore, and seized part of Maine. 

6. On the ssa many British ships were defeated or captured. 

7. At New Orleans General Andrew Jackson won a great battle. 

CHAPTER XVII 

BUILDING THE WEST 

From a very early time in colonial days the people had Moving to 
been moving slowly westward from the coast. Under the new Kentuck y 
government of the United States, this march of population 
became rapid. One stream of emigrants went up the Mohawk 
valley, in New York. Another took possession of Tennessee. 
But the favorite land was Kentucky. Into it every year went 
thousands of men and women from Virginia and Pennsylvania. 
Some went over the mountains, with their goods on the backs 
of horses, driving their flocks and herds before them. Others 
went by way of the Ohio. They would go to Pittsburg or 
Wheeling and there buy or build a boat of some kind, put 



162 



BUILDING THE WEST 



their household goods and cattle on board, and float down the 
river to their settlement. The boat, generally a flatboat made 
like a square box, or a longer keel 
boat, was broken up at the end of 
the voyage and used in build- 




Ohio River keel boat 



Three new 
states 



ing a house. 

It must not be supposed 
that the Indians looked quietly 
on while this stream of settlers 
spread over their hunting 
grounds. They did their best to drive the white men out, and 
the early history of Kentucky is an almost continuous story 
of murder and massacre. 

But neither the hardships of frontier life nor the horrors of 
Indian war kept out population. Year after year the settlers 
poured in, and in 1792 Kentucky became a state in the Union, 
and was followed four years later (179G) by Tennessee. With the 
exception of Vermont, which was admitted to the Union in 1791, 
these were the first new states added to the original thirteen. 
North of Kentucky, from the Ohio River to the Lakes, and 
from Pennsylvania to the Mississippi, — that is, in 
the Northwest Territory, — most of the land 
belonged to the United States, and 
was offered for sale to the people 
\ in order to pay the cost of the War 
for Independence. Though the 
United States owned the land, 
the British and their Indian allies 
really occupied it. The British 
held the forts along the Great Lakes, 
traded with the savages, and sold them 
Conestoga wagoo guns and powder. 




BUILDING THE WEST 163 

With guns and powder so obtained, the Indians tried to Ohio settled 
drive out the people who were settling north of the Ohio. 
Concealed in. the woods along the banks, the redskins attacked 
the boats as they floated by ; they even put out in canoes and 
climbed on board to massacre the immigrants. Sometimes 
when a boat was seen coming down the Ohio, the Indians would 
force a white prisoner to stand at the water's edge and beg 
pitequsly to be taken on board ; and when the immigrants 
stopped to help him, the savages would kill every man, woman, 
and child on the boat. 

When the whites in return attacked the Indians and burned 

their towns, a war broke out and raged during six years. One 

army was badly beaten ; another was almost de- i 

stroyed ; but a third, under General Anthony JL 

Wayne, broke the power of the Indians and ,,. u .Vj. .".'^_ 

gave peace to the frontier. About the same li^U^^ 

time, Great Britain surrendered the fron- U,;^, jRff? 

tier forts she had so long been holding. -gg|ggipi|i -J*k '^^^^mmk- 

Then the settlers came in such numbers "Sf^---""^^^^^^^^ " 

that after a few years a piece of this terri- 

, i. *t a i • * +-1 4. *. Blockhouse at Erie, Pa. 

tory was cut off and made into the state (Built hy Wayne) 

of Ohio (1803). 

Ever since the close of the Revolution the Spaniards had Trouble with 
been doing on our southern boundary what the British did pain 
along our northern. They occupied forts on the banks of the 
Mississippi in our territory, and refused to give them up ; made 
allies of the Indians ; and so really held what is now the greater 
part of the states of Alabama and Mississippi. More than this, 
Spain had refused to allow citizens of the United States to go 
down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. She owned 
the country all around the mouth of the river. Therefore she 
claimed the right to say who should use its waters, and many 



1154 



1U ll.Dl.Nc; THE WEST 



Louisiana 

ceded to 
France 




The 

Louisiana 

purchase 



Scythe 



years passed before she agreed to permit our people 
to take their produce to New Orleans, ami promised to 

withdraw her soldiers from our soil. 

The crowding o( Spain out o( Mississippi alarmed 
Frame. As a great Frenchman said, " Americans 
seemed determined to rule America." By and by 
they would force Spain out of the country alto- 
gether. That would never do. He proposed 
therefore, that Spain should give back to France 
the Louisiana which France in 17l>.'> ha I given to Spain. 
If so, France would promise never to let the United States 
have it. 

After much persuasion Spain agreed to this, and in 1800 
returned Louisiana to France. But as soon as the Spanish 
officials at New Orleans heard o( it. they again shut the Missis- 
sippi to our western people and would not let them trade at 
New Oilcans. The whole West cf course cried out, and Con- 
gress was asked to send an army to take possession of the 
mouth of the river before Fiance could occupy the country. 
But President Jefferson preferred peace, and finally our gov- 
ernment bought Louisiana from France for $15,000,000, This 
nearly doubled the si/.e of our country, as shown by the 
first map on page 233. 

As nobody knew anything about most of Louisi- 
ana, Congress asked the President for information, 
and received a most curious description. Jeffer- 
son of course did not write it, but had it writ- 
ten, and merely sent it to Congress. Among 
other things the writer told of a great sab 
mountain which existed, he said, one thou- 
sand miles up the .Missouri. The length ~"*^^ 
of the mountain was one hundred and Broadas 




BUILDING THE WKS'l 



165 




eighty miles; the width forty- 
live miles ; and there was not 
a tree nor so much as a bush 
on it : but, all glittering 
white, it rose from the prairie 
a solid mountain of salt, with 
streams of salt water flowing 
from its base. 

When such stories were 
seriously told to Congress 
there was much need of real 
information, and this was 
soon to be supplied by a 
party of explorers led by 
.Meriwether Lewis and Wil- 
liam Clark. Starting from 
St. Louis, which was then a 
frontier town, these explorers 
made their way up the Mis- 
souri River to a place in the present state of North Dakota, 
and there spent the winter with the Indians. Early the next 
spring (1805), the explorers set out again, followed the Missouri 
to its sources, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and went down the 
Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. The next year they came 
back to St. Louis. 

Lewis and Clark were the first of our countrymen to explore Discovery of 
the Columbia ; but the river had been discovered and named 
several years before by Captain Gray, of Boston. While en- 
gaged in trading for furs on the Pacific coast, he sailed into the 
mouth of the river, and named it after his ship, the Columbia. 

The discovery of the Columbia gave the United States a 
claim to all the country it drained, and this country, when 

iif.il. PR. H. 11 



A trail in Idaho 
by Lewis and Clark, and still in use) 



166 



BUILDING THE WEST 




Moving to 
the West 



Frontier 
bouses 



added to that purchased from France, extended the 
territory of the United States from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific. 

Along the Gulf of Mexico we as yet owned only 
the region about the mouth of the Mississippi. 
All the rest of the Gulf coast belonged to Spain 
i/ till 1819, when she sold us Florida. 

The money paid for it was not given to her, 

but to citizens of the United States to whom she 

Wooden piggin was indebted. At the same time, Spain and the 

United States settled our southwestern boundary, as shown on 

the second map on page 233. 

The West was now fairly swarming with settlers. The 
hard times in the East which followed the war with Great 
Britain sent many thousands over the mountains every year. 
Never before had such a migration taken place in our country. 
Men of all sorts, farmers, mechanics, tradesmen, seemed crazy 
to go west. 

Once there, the " mover," the " newcomer," would secure 
his land, cut down a few small trees, and make a half-faced 
camp. This was a shed with three sides of logs and the fourth 
side open. When it rained, the open side was closed by hang- 
ing up deerskins. 

In a half-faced camp the settler lived 
till his log cabin was finished. If he 
made his home in a place where there 
were other settlers, they would all 
come and help build the cabin. 
These frontier homes rarely had more 
than one window and one door. As 
glass was scarce and costly, the window 
frame was often covered with greased Wooden pail 




tiUILUING THE WM 



167 



paper, which let in the light but could not be seen 

through. The tables and chairs were made by the 

settler. His brooms and brushes were of corn husks, 

and many of his utensils were cut out of tree trunks. 

If the man was industrious, he would of course get 

a better house in time. But in pioneer days a 

\ / large part of the settlers lived and died in log 

VI cabins, such as are described on page 66. 

In just such a house in Indiana there was 
growing up at this time a boy named Abraham 
Lincoln. He was born in a little log hut in Ken- 
tucky, February 12, 1809. His father was a restless, shiftless, 

seeking the easiest way 




Cornhusk broom 



Abraham 

Lincoln's 
boyhood 




SI 



Lincoln's broadax 



the course of his wan- 
moved into Indiana 
years old. Though 
was given an ax 
clear the ground for 
in which the family 



ne'er-do-well man, always 

to make a living, who, in 

dering from place to place, 

when Abraham was seven 

but a child, Abraham 

and set to work to help 

the half-faced camp 

lived for a year. The cabin, when built, had a doorway, but 

no door ; a window, but no oiled paper or glass ; and nothing 

but the bare earth for a floor. Little Abraham's bed was a 

heap of dry leaves in the loft, to which he climbed by pegs 

driven into the cabin wall. 

As he grew older he learned 
all the things a frontier settler's 
boy must know. He could 
plow, cut grain with a sickle, 
thrash it with a flail, and clean 
it with a sheet ; he could chop 
wood, split rails, drive teams, and 
handle carpenter's tools, and could Birthplace of Lincoln 




Irt* 



bliiluijnu ruii yvusi 




Cabinet made by 
Lincoln 



do all so well that when his father did not 
need his help he could hire him out to 
a neighbor for more than ordinary wages. 
Abraham learned to read, write, and 
cipher at a school taught by some of the 
schoolmasters who in those days wan- 
dered about the country from town to 
town. He went to school, as he said, 
"by littles"; in all, his schooling did not 
amount to more than a year. 

As soon as he could read he began to 
borrow every book he heard of, — among them iEsop's " Fables," 
Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," " Robinson Crusoe," a " Short 
History of the United States," and Weems's " Life of Wash- 
ington." This last book got wet, and he bought it of the 
owner by " pulling fodder " for three days. For a slate he 
used the wooden fire shovel, or shingles, when they were to be 
had, scraping them clean when they were covered with sums. 
His pencil, was a charred stick. From the borrowed books he 
copied long extracts, using brierwood 
ink and a quill pen made from a turkey 
buzzard's feather. When paper was 
not to be had, he wrote the extracts on 
shingles or bits of board. 

After Lincoln grew up, he moved to 
Illinois and became a lawyer, and f/M 
before he died, the whole world had 
heard of him. 

When the land about a cabin was 
wooded, the settler would clear it of N/A 
bushes and would cut down and burn 1/ 
the small trees. The larger trees were Lincoln's law-office chair 




BUILDING THE YVESl lt>9 

killed by cutting a deep " girdle " around them near the 
ground. In the fields thus laid open to the sun would be 
planted corn, potatoes, and wheat. At first the crops raised 
would be scarcely enough to feed the family, but by and by 
they would be much larger, and part of them could be taken 
to a river town and there sold for " store goods." 

These river towns were often little shipping ports, from 
which flour, pork, lumber, and provisions of all sorts would be 
sent to New Orleans. 

The Ohio River was now a great highway of trade teeming owo River 

with life. Up and down it went odd craft of many sorts. 

There were Orleans boats, loaded with flour, hogs, and 

produce ; great fleets of timber rafts from the "'■- s 

Appalachian Mountain streams, manned 

by fifty boatmen ; pirogues, dug 

out of the trunks of huge trees ; 

broadhorns, guided by great oars 

called sweeps ; arks carrying whole 

families of immigrants with their 

cattle and household goods ; steamboats 

that stopped anvwhere and everywhere 

^ r J tit 0hio Ri™ flatboat 

to get wood, or take on goods, or land 

passengers ; and floating stores. These stores were little one- 
story houses built on the deck of a boat, and fitted up just as 
if they were on land, As a boat of this sort floated along 
down the river, the captain would blow a horn the moment a 
farmhouse or a village came in sight. The people would then 
hurry to the river bank, the boat would make fast to a tree, 
and in a few moments the store would be crowded. Dry 
goods, hardware, iron pots, farm implements, and many other 
things were for saie. But they were not bought with money. 
The farmers gave grain, flour, pork, bacon, in exchange, and 




trade 



boatmen 



170 BUILDING THE WEST 

these the storekeeper sold for money to somebody who would 
ship them to New Orleans. 
Mississippi The Mississippi was quite as crowded as the Ohio ; for into 
it came boats of all sorts from the Ohio, the Cumberland, the 
Tennessee, the Missouri, loaded with goods going to New 
Orleans. A traveler who saw one of the Mississippi towns 
at this time tells us that often a hundred craft arrived and 
departed in a day. There would be gathered lumber from the 
forests of Pennsylvania, Yankee notions from New England, 
pork and flour, hemp and rope from Kentucky, corn, apples, 
and potatoes from Ohio, cattle and horses from Illinois, lead 
and poultry from Missouri, and barges carrying nothing but 
turkeys. 
The river As the boats lay side by side, the crews would wander from 
one to another, seeking old friends and making new acquaint- 
ances. At dusk all would go ashore to have a good time. But 
by midnight all would quiet down. At the first streaks of 
dawn bugle after bugle would ring out, the boats would again 
be astir, and long before the sun was up the whole flotilla would 
once more be on its way down the river. Then they would no 
longer go singly, but, lashed together in little fleets of eight or 
ten, would float on toward New Orleans, while the boatmen 
whiled away the time with dancing, singing, music, and story- 
telling. At New Orleans the produce and lumber would find 
a ready sale, after which the boatmen would work their passage 
up the Mississippi as deck hands on the steamboats. 

As people continued to come into the West by thousands 
year after year, the country began to be pretty well settled, 
and between 1812 and 1821, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, 
Illinois, Alabama, and Missouri were made states. 

To trade with the people in these Western States was a 
matter of great importance to the merchants and manufac- 



BUILDING THE WEST 



171 



turers in the Atlantic seaboard states. But in order to send 
them clothing, hardware, farm implements, and other things, 
there must be some easy way of getting to the West. The 
people of New York state decided that their easy way should The Erie 
be a canal from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, and after eight 




UitpyriyM, TJOO, by C. Klackner 



Travel by canal 



years of hard work they completed and opened (1825) the 
Erie Canal from end to end. 

This stirred up the people of Pennsylvania, who began to 
join Philadelphia and Pittsburg by a highway partly canal 
and partly railroad. 

In many ways it was now much easier to go about the coun- 
try than it was when the War for Independence ended. Many 
of the large rivers were crossed by bridges. Between the chief 
towns better roads had been made. Over them the stage- 
coaches, drawn by good horses, passed more swiftly than of old. 
A traveler could go just about twice as far in a day in 1825 as 
he could in Washington's time, and with about the same risk ; 
for now and then a stage would upset, as in earlier days. 

The greatest progress had been made in travel on the water, The 
for the steamboat was now in use on many bays and rivers. steai 



172 



liUULl-UlNO lllh WKM 



through the water by 
steam was old. Sev- 



The idea of driving a boat 
means of a machine moved by 
eral men had invented such ma- 
chines and moved boats. But 
the successful use of sucli boats 
dates from one August day 
in 1807, when Robert Fulton 
made a trip up the Hudson 
from New York to Albany in 
the Clermont. 

The next great improvement in the means of travel was the 
building of a railroad, that is, a roadway with rails, over which 




Early type of locomotive 



heavily loaded cars could 
body thought very much 




Early type of locomotive 



be drawn by horses. But no- 
about railroads till an English- 
man named George Stephenson 
invented the steam locomotive 
and showed that it could 
move long trains of cars 
' much faster than horses 
could. There were soon 
built a few short railroads 



in our country, on which horses were at first used to draw the 
cars. But after 1831 the steam locomotive came into general 
use here, and many railroads were built. 



SUMMARY 

The arrival of settlers west of the Appalachian Mountains was the cause 
of a long and bloody warfare with the Indians. But the Indians could 
not drive back the whites. Settlers came in greater numbers than ever, 
and three Western States sunn entered the Union: Kentucky in 1792, 
Tennessee in L796, and Ohio in 18():i. Vermont in the East had entered 
the Union in 1791 



BUILDING THE WES'l 



173 



2. Until 1800 Spain owned Louisiana (New Orleans and the valley of the 

Mississippi west of the river) and all our Gulf of Mexico coast. In 
1800 she gave Louisiana to France, from whom, in 1803, we bought it. 

3. The Columbia River was discovered some years before this by an Ameri- 

can sea captain named Gray. 

4. The new territory purchased from France and the Columbia River coun- 

try were explored by Lewis and Clark. 

5. Florida was purchased from Spain in the year 1819, and at the same 

time Spain and the United States agreed on a definite boundary from 
the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. 

6. After the second war with Great Britain more people went west from the 

seaboard states. Life in the log cabins on the frontier was hard at 
first, but the settlers came by thousands every year. 




Copyright, Ib'M, by E. L. Ik 



Early railroad travel 



7. The Ohio and the Mississippi became great highways, crowded with craft 

of every sort, from flatboats and rafts to steamboats. 

8. The effect of this immigration was to build up six new Western States, 

admitted between 1812 and 1821 : Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illi- 
nois, Alabama, and Missouri. 

9. Trade with the people in the Western States was very important to the 

people of the East, and led to the construction of the Erie Canal across 
New York and of canals and railroads across Pennsylvania. 



174 



SLAVERY (QUESTION BEGINS TO MAKE TROUBLE 



CHAPTER XVIII 



THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY BEGINS TO MAKE TROUBLE 



Slavery When our country was under the British Crown there were 
three great classes of laborers, — freemen, redemptioners, and 
slaves. ' Free laborers were those who were paid for their work 
What redemptioners were was told in Chapter V., where mem 
tion was also made of the negro slaves that were early brought 
to America from Africa. 

A slave belonged absolutely to the owner. He could be 
sold, or given away, or hired out, exactly as a horse or an ox. 
He could not own anything, even if he found or made it, nor 
could he leave the plantation where he belonged without per- 
mission. It was not lawful to teach a slave to read 
or write, and to set him free was a very difficult 
matter. A slave woman's children were slaves. 

Down to the opening of the War for Independ- 
ence Great Britain forced the colonies to allow 
slavery. Several of them tried to abolish it, but 
this was always prevented. After the war 
the states were able to do as they pleased, 
and in time those from Pennsylvania east- 
ward to New Hampshire abolished slavery. 

The people in the states south of Pennsylvania 

would probably in time have done the same had 

they not begun to grow cotton in great quantities. 

Before 1790 it did not pay to raise cotton because 

of the difficulty of cleaning it. Raw cotton, or 

cotton cotton wool, grows inside of a pod on a bush. When the pod 

is ripe, it splits open and shows the cotton with a number of 

seeds in it, which must be picked out before it can be spun 




A negro slave 



SLAVERY QUESTION BEGINS TO MAKE TROUBLE 175 




Whitney's 
cotton gin 



into threads. To pick them out by hand was so slow 
and costly that a machine to do the work was greatly 
needed, and this machine Eli Whitney invented. 

Whitney was born in Massachusetts. When a 
young man he went to Georgia to teach, and while ^. 
at Savannah heard of the difficulty of cleaning 
cotton and set about removing it. He was a 
born inventor and mechanic, had used tools 
from boyhood, and soon made a machine which 
he called a cotton gin, the word " gin " being 
a short term for ""engine." 

After the invention of Whitney's machine, 
cotton raising became very profitable. But 
the greater the quantity grown, the greater i 
the demand for negro slaves to plant the seed and 
gather the cotton wool, and slavery became more 
firmly established than ever before in the Southern 
States where cotton was grown. 

In the Northern States, where cotton was not raised, the The dispute 
people were much opposed to slavery, and when at last Mis- 
souri asked for admission into the Union, Northern men insisted 
that she must be a free state, that is, one in which slavery 
was not allowed. The Southern people, on the other hand, 
demanded that she enter as a slave state. Of the new states 
already admitted to the Union, those north of the Ohio were 
free and those south of it slaveholding, so that in the whole 
Union of twenty-two states there were eleven of each kind. 

During the discussion in Congress about admitting Missouri, 
Massachusetts gave her consent that Maine should become a 
state. Up to this time Maine had been part of Massachusetts. 
When the consent of this state to a separation was given, Maine 
applied to Congress for leave to enter the Union. 



Cotton 



176 



SLAVERY QUESTION BEGINS TO MAKE TROUBLE 




*mgt 



Henry Clay's home (in KentucKy) 



The Missouri But there were no slaves in Maine. The South, therefore, 
compromise raa( j e use f ^his fact, and said to the North, if Maine comes 

into the Union as a free state, Mis- 
souri must come in as a slave 
state. And so it was finally 
arranged. Maine was ad- 
mitted in 1820, and Missouri 
in 1821. But at the same 
time it was agreed that in all 
the country purchased from 
France in 1803, north of the 
"' parallel of 36° 30', except 
Missouri, there should be no 
slavery. This was called the 
Missouri Compromise, and was brought about through the 
influence of Henry Clay, a very distinguished member of Con- 
gress from Kentucky. 

This compromise, it was hoped, would put an end to all dis- 
putes about slavery. If you start at the Delaware River and 
follow the south and then the west boundary of Pennsylvania 
to the Ohio River, then go down that river to the Mississippi, 
then up the Mississippi and around the north and west bound- 
ary of Missouri to the parallel of 3G° 30', and then along that 
parallel to the meridian of 100°, you will have the line which 
in 1821 separated the slaveholding from the free part of the 
United States. In all the region south of this line slavery 
existed. In all the country north of it slavery had been 
abolished or was prohibited. 

In the opinion of Mr. Clay and many other people this 
settled the matter. But there were others who insisted that 
it did not, and that slavery ought to be abolished by Congress ; 
that it ought not to exist anywhere in our country. These 



Boundary of 
slave territory 



The 
Abolitionists 



SLAVERY QUESTION BEGINS TO MAKE TROUBLE 



177 



were the Abolitionists, and their most celebrated leader was 
William Lloyd Garrison. 

One of the ways used to arouse a feeling against slavery Antisiavery 
was to scatter antisiavery newspapers, pamphlets, pictures, agltatlon 
books, and handbills all over the South. The South declared 
that such things were dangerous, as they were likely to make 
the slaves rebellious, and called on the North to stop their 
publication, and put down the antisiavery societies. There- 
upon, in many Northern cities, mobs broke up the meetings 
of the antisiavery people, and destroyed antisiavery news- 
paper offices. 

Violence made matters worse. The feeling against slavery 
grew stronger and 
spread wider, and in 
1840 a new politi- 
cal party, afterwards 
called the Liberty 
Party, was organized, 
and pledged to work 
for the freeing of the 
slaves. 

In 1840 William 
Henry Harrison was 
elected President by 
the party called Whigs 
had been: — 




Free and slave territory in 1821 



Up to that time our Presidents The first ten 

Presidents 



George Washington 
John Adams 
Thomas Jefferson 
James Madison . 



1789-1707 
1797-1801 
,1801-1809 
1809-1817 



James Monroe 
John Quincy Adams 
Andrew Jackson 
Martin Van Buren 



1817-1825 
1825-1829 
1829-1837 
1837-1841 



But Harrison had been President only a month when he 
died, and the Vice President, John Tyler, succeeded him. 



178 SLAVERY QUESTION BEGINS TO MAKE TROUBLE 

With the stormy politics of Tyler's term we need not be 
concerned. But there is one event connected with the story 
of slavery and the growth of country which must be 
mentioned. 

Some twenty years before this time, citizens of 
the United States went in large numbers to settle 
in Texas, then a part of Mexico. Although Mex- 
ico had been made a republic patterned after the 
United States, its government was much less free 
than ours and in many respects was really very 
cruel and tyrannical. For Mexicans and Ameri- 
cans to live quietly together under such a govern- 
ment as that of Mexico was impossible. They 
soon disagreed, quarreled, went to war, and in 1836 
the Americans made a declaration of independence, 
and Texas became a republic. 
A fashionable man The Texans then wished to bring their repub- 

lic into our Union as a state. People who wanted 
Annexation more slave states approved of this because there was slavery in 
Texas. Those who did not want more slave states opposed it, 
and so the question of the annexation of Texas was a very 
serious one for some years. At last, in 1844, when a new 
President was to be elected, the Democratic Party declared for 
the annexation of Texas. This meant that if their candidate, 
James K. Polk of Tennessee, was elected, and if they had a 
majority in both houses of Congress, they would admit Texas 
as a new state. When, therefore, Polk was chosen, President 
Tyler urged Congress without delay to take the steps necessary 
to admission, and in the last days of his term Congress did so, 
and in 1845 Texas became the twenty-eighth state in the Union. 
Since the admission of Maine and Missouri, the states of Arkan- 
sas, Michigan, and Florida had been admitted. 




SLAVERY QUESTION BEGINS TO MAKE TROUBLE 179 






At the same time that the Democrats declared for the annex- 
ation of Texas, they demanded a settlement of our dispute with 
Great Britain over the ownership of the Columbia River valley, 
or the Oregon country, as it was called. 

You will recall that we claimed this country, first by rea- 
son of Captain Gray's discovery of the Columbia River (1792), 
and second by its exploration by Lewis and Clark some years 
later. A third claim was based on its settlement, for John 
Jacob Astor of New York had sent out settlers and founded 
Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia. 

For certain reasons Great Britain disputed our claims, and 
in 1818 it was agreed that for ten years to come the country 
should be open to the people of both nations. 

When the ten-year period was drawing to 
a close, the question of occupying the Ore 
gon country was discussed in Congress. 
But Oregon seemed so far away, so un- 
likely to be settled for many years, that 
the old agreement with Great Britain was 
renewed without a time limit, and this was 
the state of affairs in 1842. 

Now, it happened that in 1842 another 
boundary dispute with Great Britain, which 
had been going on for sixty years, was 
finally settled. Ever since the end of the War 
for Independence, Great Britain had claimed 
that the northern half of Maine belonged to 
her. We claimed that it did not and insisted 
on a boundary north of the present line. 
Several attempts were made to end the dis- 
pute, but it was not till 1842 that a treaty A fashionable woman 
was agreed on and the line determined. about 1840 



The Oregon 
country 




180 



SLAVERY QUESTION BEGINS TO MAKE TROUBLE 



boundary 



When it was known that the dispute about Oregon had not 
been settled at the same time, the people were much displeased, 
and the Democrats thought it wise to demand a settlement. 
Northwestern Texas was slave soil ; Oregon would surely be free soil. It 
was good policy, therefore, when adding to our slaveholding 
^ area, to add at the same time a piece of territory 
to our free area. So they called for occupation 
of Oregon up to 54° 40'. " The whole of Oregon 
or none " was the cry ; " Fifty-four forty or fight." 
Happily, it was not necessary to light, and the 
two countries in 1846 agreed to make the 49th 
parallel, from the Rocky Mountains to the 
coast, the boundary of Oregon. 

Meantime the annexation of Texas was 

causing trouble for us with Mexico, for two 

> reasons. First, though Texas was really 

p an independent republic, Mexico refused 

to admit the fact, and insisted that we had 

no right to annex the country. Second, 

Texas claimed the Rio Grande as a boundary, while Mexico 

denied this and would have placed the dividing line at the 

Nueces River, farther east. 

Now, Congress having annexed Texas, which claimed the 
Rio Grande as its west boundary, President Polk sent troops 
under Zachary Taylor to take position on the banks of that 
river. There in 1846 the Mexicans attacked Taylor and were 
"beaten. War with Mexico followed at once. Our armies 
were commanded by Generals Scott, Taylor, and Kearny, and 
in the course of the war did some wonderful fighting and 
marching. Taylor beat the enemy in battle after battle near 
the Rio Grande. Scott marched from the seacoast across the 
enemy's country to the city of Mexico and captured it, having 




Armchair 



War with 
Mexico 



SLAVERY QUESTION BEGINS TO MAKE TROUBLE 



181 



won many victories on the 
way. Kearny marched 
from Fort Leavenworth 
on the Missouri River to 
Santa Fe in New Mexico, 
a distance of eight hun- 
dred miles, captured the 
city, and then went on 
across the continent to 
California. There he 
found that Commodore 
Stockton and Captain 
Fremont had already con- 
quered California. 

When peace was made 
in 1848, we held the territory thus acquired and paid Mexico Terms ot 
$15,000,000, besides paying claims of our citizens against peace 
Mexico to the amount of $3,500,000. Our country then had 
the shape shown in the first map on page 234. 




The hill castle of Chapultepec 

( The Americans under Scott carried 'Chapultepec by 
storm, in order to capture Mexico city) 



SUMMARY 



1. Before the War for Independence slavery existed in all the colonies. 

After it some of the states abolished slavery. Others would have done 
so had it not been for the cotton gin invented by Whitney. This made 
slaves more profitable in the cotton-growing states. 

2. East of the Mississippi, slavery was allowed in the new states south of the 

Ohio, but was forbidden in the territory north of the Ohio. When 
Missouri applied for admission into the Union, the question of slavery 
west of the Mississippi was discussed and finally settled by the Com- 
promise of 1820. 

3. About the time Maine and Missouri were admitted we bought Florida 

from Spain and agreed with her as to the boundary between Mexico 
(which then included Texas) and the United States. 

MCM. PE. H. 12 



182 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD AND THE CONSEQUENCES 



4. Mexico soon became free from Spain. Many American settlers went to 

Texas with their slaves, but would not live under the Mexican govern- 
ment, and so made Texas an independent republic. 

5. The Texans wished to be annexed to the United States. This was 

opposed for some time by those who were opposed to slavery, but in 
1845 Texas was made a state in the Union. 

6. The northern boundaries of Maine and Oregon were fixed in 1842 and 

1846, thus peaceably settling two long disputes with Great Britain. 

7. A dispute as to the southeast boundary brought on a war with Mexico. 

8. As one result of the Mexican War we acquired an immense piece of ter- 

ritory stretching from the upper Rio Grande to the Pacific. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD AND THE CONSEQUENCES 



Captain 
Sutter 



A part of the vast region acquired from Mexico was called 
California, and in this country, near the Sacramento River, 
lived Captain J. A. Sutter, a Swiss settler. He had obtained 
from the Mexican governor of California a great tract of land 
and on it had built a fort. 

Sutter's Fort, as it was called, stood at the junction of the 
American and Sacramento rivers, on the site of the present 




Sutter's Fort about 1850 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD AND THE CONSEQUENCES 



183 



city of Sacramento. In it Sutter, lived like a little king. 
Over his domain roamed thousands of cattle, thousands of 
sheep, and thousands of horses and 
employ were hundreds of laborers, 
fort were settled a number of 

As Sutter used a great deal of 3 
employed a man named Marshall 




mules. In his 
'ft, and around his 
Americans. 



&; lumber, he Sutter's 




mill 






Sutter's mill 



sawmill for him at a place called Coloma, some fifty miles away. 
The saws were to be moved by a water wheel. But when the 
wheel was finished and the water turned on, it was found that 
the ditch to carry off the water was too small. To make it 
larger, water was washed 
through it, and as a conse- 
quence a bed of mud and 
gravel was formed at the end 
of the ditch. 

One day in January, 1848, 
as Marshall looked at this 
bed of gravel he saw in it 






V\ . 



t A L I FVO R N I A 



Sn Franci: 



Gold 
discovered 



Part of California 



184 



LUSCOVEKY UE GULD AJND THE CONSEQUENCES 




The rush to 
the gold fields 



Digging and 
washing gold 



••^s**^ 



Sutter's Fort as it is now 



some glitter- , ing particles, which he picked up, examined, 
and believed ) were gold. Gathering more, he carried them 
to Sutter, who easily proved that gold 
>»^ they were. 

To keep the discovery secret 
was impossible. Sutter and 
Marshall acted so strangely 
that a workman watched them and 
found some gold himself. Then 
the news spread fast. Everybody 
that could, dropped work and rushed to the gold fields. 

Laborers left their fields, tradesmen their shops, and sail- 
ors their ships as fast as they arrived on the coast. One of the 
San Francisco newspapers ceased to appear because the editor, 
the typesetters, and the printer's devils had gone to the gold 
fields. Another journal had the same experience a few weeks 
later, and California was without a newspaper. The 
publisher of one of these papers stated that while 
traveling through the gold fields 
to see the sights he gathered 
without the aid of a shovel, 
pick, and pan, from forty-four 
to one hundred and twenty- 
eight dollars a day in gold. 
At the diggings the hill- 
sides were dotted with can- 
vas tents and bush arbors 
that served as houses for the 
miners. The gold was obtained . 
by washing. Some men worked 
with tin pans, some with close 
woven Indian baskets, but the greater 




Washing gold 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD AND THE CONSEQUENCES 



185 



part had a rude machine known as a cradle. This was a box 
six or eight feet long, on rockers. It was open at the foot, and 
at its head had a coarse grate. Four men were usually required 
to work the machine ; one dug the ground, another carried it 
to the cradle and emptied it on the grate, a third gave a violent 
rocking motion to the cradle, while a fourth dashed on water 
from a stream. 

By November, 1848, reports from California had reached the Gold seekers 
East and set people crazy. It was then too late to go overland from the East 
to the gold fields. But before February, 1849, more than a 







Prairie schooner 



hundred ships with thousands of " Argonauts," as the gold 
seekers were called, had started for California. Some went to 
the Isthmus of Panama, which the gold hunters crossed, and 
took ships on the Pacific coast. Others sailed around South 
America. 

When spring came, thousands of men were hurrying to Mis- The overland 
souri to make the journey from there across the plains. Com- c^"-^^ 
ing from all parts of the country, these men would usually 
assemble at Independence on the Missouri River, where they 
would "fit out" ; that is, they would buy food, guns, ammuni- 
tion, oxen, canvas-covered wagons (prairie schooners), and 



186 DISCOVERY OF GOLD AND THE CONSEQUENCES 

whatever else was necessary, and would make up parties for 
defense against the Indians. The road was up the valley of 
the Platte and over the Rocky Mountains to the Sierra Nevada 
in California. The suffering, both of man and beast, was ter- 
rible ; for on the wide, dry, sun-baked plains there was neither 
food, water, nor trees. Hunger and thirst caused the death of 
hundreds, and along the route for many years might be seen 
the skeletons of horses and oxen and the wrecks of wagons that 
had broken down on the way. Yet no danger, no suffering, no 
fear of hostile Indians, could stop the emigrants. They went 
by thousands, and California by 1849 had a population so great 
that the people formed a state government and applied for 
admission into the Union. 
The slavery In the newly made state constitution of California slavery 
California was forbidden ; and this was a serious matter, for just then the 
whole question of slavery was before Congress and the country. 
The annexation of the slave state of Texas and the purchase of 
more territory brought it up in a new form. Hitherto the 
question was, Shall slavery be abolished? Now it became, 
Shall slavery be extended ? Shall it be allowed in the country 
purchased from Mexico ? As this land had been made free 
soil by Mexico, many people in the North insisted that it should 
remain free, and formed a political party called the Free Soil 
Party, pledged to prevent the spread of slavery. " No more 
slave states " was their cry. The South insisted that the newly 
acquired country was the common property of the states, that 
any citizen might go there with his slaves, and that Congress 
had no right to prevent him. Besides this, the South insisted 
that there ought to be at least as many slave states as free 
states. Since the admission of Florida and Texas the two free 
states of Iowa and Wisconsin had been added, so that now the 
numbers were equal — fifteen slave states and fifteen free. 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD AND THE CONSEQUENCES 187 

Some threats were made that the slaveholding states would 
leave the Union if Congress sought to shut out slavery in the 
territory gained from Mexico. 

That a state might secede, or withdraw from the Union, had The question 

f 

long been claimed by a party led by John C. Calhoun of South 
Carolina. Daniel Webster had always opposed this doctrine 
and stood as the representative of 
those who held that our Union ^ . 





can not be broken. Once (in 
1832) South Carolina went so J§M 
far as to nullify a certain tax <2*?fl§^ \j¥! 
law of the United States ; that 

, ,, -. , -n ,i • i Webster's home (in Massachusetts) 

is, she refused to allow this law 

to be enforced on her soil, and she threatened to secede if the 
government used force against her. On that occasion a very 
famous debate took place in the Senate between Webster and 
Calhoun on this very question of secession. The dispute was 
finally settled by a compromise, largely through the influence 
of Henry Clay ; South Carolina gave up her attempt to nullify 
the law, but Congress made important changes in the law. 

Now in 1850 Clay undertook to end this latest quarrel TheCompro- 
between the states, as he had that over Missouri (in 1820), 
and that with South Carolina (in 1833). Again a great debate 
occurred, in which Webster, Calhoun, and Clay (the most dis- 
tinguished senators then living) took part, and once more a 
compromise resulted. We need not learn all its details. It is 
enough to know that, as part of it, — 

1. California was admitted as a free state. 

2. Texas received her present boundary, giving up her claim 

to the land now lying between the state of Texas and the 
Rio Grande. 



188 



msCUVJSK* VH UULD AIND THE CONSEQUENCES 



3. Out of part of the country bought from Mexico were made 
two territories — Utah and New Mexico, in which slavery 
was not prohibited. 



The Mormons 



Migrations of 
the Mormons 



In New Mexico were some old Spanish settlements founded 
long before an English colony was planted in our country, and 
the curious Indian villages or pueblos of the Zuni. 

In Utah were the Mormons. Twenty years before, a man 
named Joseph Smith founded in New York state a new reli- 
gious sect. The members of this sect were commonly called 
Mormons because of their new " Book of Mormon," which they 
believed to be as holy as the Bible. 

From New York they went in time to Ohio, then to Missouri, 
and then to* a little town which they built in Illinois on the 
bank of the Mississippi River. There they came to blows with 
the state officers, and in 1846 the Mormon leaders decided to 
move their people out of the United States and into Mexico. 
The plan was not to go in one great body, but in a series of 



parties, and 
to select the 
to mark the 
plains 



Guidepost 



as the first of these crossed the plains 
site for a new city, it used curious methods 
way for those that came after. The 
in those days were dotted with buffalo 
skulls bleached by long exposure to 
the sun and air. Taking one of these 
from time to time, the leader 
would paint across the skull 
the date and the number of 
miles made, and set it up as 
a guidepost or marker of a 
camping place. Others would be hung on the branches of 
trees and filled with letters to the members of the party next 
to follow. 




Mormon guidepost 
r place. 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD AND THE CONSEQUENCES 189 

After three months of hard and wearisome travel, this band salt Lake city 
of pioneers climbed over a big mountain and beheld below settled 
them the broad valley of the Great Salt Lake. Going down 




Mormon houses in the desert 



into it, they took possession, and some ten miles from the shore 
of the lake made the beginning of Salt Lake City. Later 
in the year (18-17), several thousand people arrived, and still 
more in 1848. When the Mormons entered Utah, the country 
belonged to Mexico, but finding themselves again within the 
United States as a result of the Mexican War, they formed 
the state of Deseret, and (1849) asked for its admission into 
the Union. The request was not granted, and for many years 
this part of our country remained the territory of Utah. 

SUMMARY 

1. The Mexican War was scarcely ended when news reached the East that 

gold had been discovered in California. 

2. A great rush of gold hunters followed. Some sailed around South America, 

or crossed the Isthmus of Panama. Many went overland. 

3. In California sailors left their ships, laborers and tradesmen dropped 

work, and all hurried to the gohl fields. 

4. Men came in such numbers that in 1849 a state government was estab- 

lished and Congress was asked to admit California as a state. 

5. A dispute broke out as to whether it should be a free or a slave state. 

It was finally made as a free state under Clay's Compromise of 1850. 



190 



THE SLAVERY QUESTION BRINGS ON CIVIL WAR 



CHAPTER XX 




The Missouri 

Compromise 

repealed 



THE SLAVERY QUESTION BRINGS ON CIVIL WAR 

The Compromise of 1850, as it was called, 
was supposed by those who made it to be a 
final settlement of all the troubles 
growing out of slavery. But when 
Kansas and Nebraska were made 
territories (1854), the old quarrel 
between North and South broke 
out anew. 
You will remember that by the Compromise of 1820 (page 
176), there was to be no slavery in all that part of the old 
Louisiana territory north of 36° 30', except in Missouri. Kan- 
sas and Nebraska were in this free part of the old Louisiana. But 
Congress, under the lead of Senator Stephen A. Douglas of 
Illinois, now repealed the Compromise of 1820 and opened these 
territories to slavery. The effects of this law (1854) were : — 



Cannon used in forts during the 
Civil War 



1. That any man might emigrate to Kansas or Nebraska with 

his slaves and live there and not have them set free. 

2. When the time came to admit Kansas or Nebraska into the 

Union as a state, the people were to decide whether it 
should be a free or a slaveholding state. 

3. "Whether Kansas and Nebraska should finally become slave- 

holding or free states depended, therefore, on whether the 
slaveholders or the settlers opposed to slavery were the 
more numerous. 



The struggle Both sides now made great efforts to settle and control 
tor Kansas Kansas. People pledged to make Kansas a free state hurried 



THE SLAVERY QUESTION BRINGS ON CIVIL WAR 



191 



in from the North and settled at Lawrence, Topeka, and else- 
where. Immi- grants pledged to make Kansas a slave state 




Musket used during the Civil War 

came in from Missouri and the South and founded Atchison, 
Lecompton, Leavenworth, and other towns. The struggle that 
followed was dreadful. Lawrence was plundered and burned, 
men were murdered, and during several years a civil war raged 
in Kansas. Lawless bands of both parties, called Jayhawkers, 
roamed about the country, and when they met, fought. One 
who lived in Kansas during this time tells us that farming was 
almost neglected ; that men went out to till the soil in bands 
of ten or twelve fully armed, and that whenever two strangers 
met they came up pistol in hand ; that their first salutation 
was, " Free-state or pro-slave ? " and that often the next sound 
was the report of a pistol. 

As the pe'ople north and south watched this civil war in 
Kansas, the feeling of the two sections grew more and more 
intense and bitter. 

In the midst of this excitement over Kansas the time came Lincoin- 
to elect a senator for Illinois to re- 
place Stephen A. Douglas, and the 
question arose, Shall he be re- 
elected, or shall some other man 
be chosen in place of him? Mr. . 
Douglas, you remember, had secured 
the passage of the law creating the 
two territories of Kansas and Ne- 
braska, which allowed anybody to 
take slaves into those territories. ield cannon 

in use during 

The Republicans, whose motto was the Civil War 




192 THE SLAVERY QUESTION BRINGS ON CIVIL WAR 




Abraham Lincoln 

"No more slave states, no more slave territories," wanted 
Douglas defeated, and nominated Abraham Lincoln for sena- 
tor. The Democrats nominated Mr. Douglas, and during the 
autumn of 1858 these two candidates traveled over the state 
of Illinois, discussing the question of slavery from the same 
platform night after night. This Lincoln-Douglas debate 
created great interest. In the end Douglas was reelected, but 
to^PresMent Lincoln became so famous that in 1860 the Republicans nomi- 
in i860 nated him for President of the United States. The Democrats 



THE SLAVERY yUESTiOJN BR1MGS UJM CIVIL WAK 193 

were divided ; one part nominated Douglas, and the other Mr. 
John C. Breckinridge. A fourth party, whose motto was to 
save the Union at any cost, put forward John Bell. 
The Presidents since Van Buren had been : — 

William H. Harrison . 1841 I Millard Fillmore . . 1850-1853 

John Tyler . . . 1841-1845 Franklin Pierce . . 1853-1857 

James K. Polk . . 1845-1849 James Buchanan . . 1857-1861 

Zachary Taylor . . 1849-1850 1 



The last two of these Presidents were Democrats and had secession of 

Southei 
States 



not opposed slavery. The Southern States now , (1860) said s 



that if Lincoln were elected, slavery would be destroyed, and 
that rather than have this happen they would leave the Union. 
When, therefore, Lincoln was elected, they began one by one to 
secede, that is, declared that they were no longer members of 
the Union known as the United States of America. 

First went South Carolina, and then Georgia, Florida, Ala- 
bama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Delegates from these six 
states next met at Montgomery, Alabama, and formed a new 
union which they called the "Confederate States of America." 
Jefferson Davis was elected 
its President, and Alexander 

H. Stephens its Vice Presi- "^fffii^: 

dent. And now Texas "'Biinar 

joined the Confederacy. 

When South Carolina _ . _ 

Fort Sumter 

seceded, there was within 

her bounds much property belonging to the United States. Forts, etc., 
There were lighthouses, courthouses, post offices, customhouses l 1 ^ ^ 
where duties on imported goods were collected, and two impor- 
tant forts, Moultrie and Sumter, which guarded the entrance to 
Charleston harbor, and were held by a small band of United 
States troops under the command of Major Robert Anderson. 



194 



THE SLAVERY QUESTION BRINGS ON CIVIL WAR 



What 
Anderson did 



Fort Sumter 
attacked by 
Confederates 




Charleston Harbor 



As soon as the state seceded, a demand was made on the 
United States for a surrender of this property. The partner- 
ship called the Union, it was said, having been dissolved by the 

withdrawal of South Carolina, 
the land on which these forts, 
arsenals, magazines, and build- 
ings stood belonged to the 
state ; but the buildings being 
the property of the United States 
should be paid for by the state. 
Agents were accordingly sent to 
Washington to arrange for the 
purchase. 

Troops, meantime, were being 
enlisted and drilled, and Major Anderson, fearing that if the 
agents sent to Washington did not succeed, the forts would be 
taken by force, cut down the flagstaff and spiked the guns in 
Fort Moultrie, and moved his men to Fort Sumter, which stood 
on an island in the harbor, and could be more easily defended ; 
and so the matter stood when Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, 
March 4, 1861. 

Fort Sumter was now 
his men could get no 
food from Charleston, 
while the troops of 
the Confederacy had 
planted cannon with 
■which they could at any - 
time fire on the fort. - 
Either the troops must 
very soon go away or 
food must be sent to 



in a state of sie<xe. 



Anderson and 




Part of Fort Sumter after bombardment 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE LAND 195 

them. Mr. Lincoln decided to send food. But when the ves- 
sels with food, men, and supplies reached Charleston they found 
that the Confederates had already begun to fire on Sumter. 
What then happened is best told by Major Anderson : " Hav- 
ing defended Fort Sumter for thirty-four hours, until the quar- 
ters were entirely burned, the main gates destroyed by fire, the 
gorge walls seriously injured, the magazine surrounded by 
flames, and its door closed from the effects of heat, four barrels 
and three cartridges of powder only being available, and no 
provisions remaining but pork, I accepted terms of evacuation Fort Sumter 
offered by General Beauregard . . . and marched out of the surrendered 
fort Sunday afternoon, the 14th instant, with colors flying and 
drums beating. ..." 

SUMMARY 

1. A law was passed (1854) establishing the two territories of Kansas and 

Nebraska, and repealing the Missouri Compromise. 

2. The law provided that when these territories became states, their people 

should decide whether or not the new states should be free soil. The 
result was a bloody struggle for the possession of Kansas. 

3. After Lincoln was elected President (1860), seven of the Southern States 

seceded from the Union and formed a new Confederacy. 

4. A dispute over the possession of the forts in Charleston Harbor led to a 

successful attack by the Confederates on Fort Sumter. 

CHAPTER XXI 

THE WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE LAND 

The moment the news of the fall of Sumter reached the 
North, the people knew that all hope of a peaceable settlement 
of the dispute with the South was gone. Mr. Lincoln at once 



196 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE LAND 




SCALE OF MILES 

6 bo ioo 10U 200 



G V L F Ft .J acB F MEXICO 



The Confederate States 

President calls called for 75,000 soldiers to serve for three months. Some of 

for troops the results of thig were 



1. The secession of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and 

Arkansas, making eleven states in the Confederacy. 

2. The removal of the seat of government of the Confederacy 

from Montgomery in Alabama to Richmond in Virginia. 

3. The separation of the western part of Virginia from the 

eastern part. Out of this was afterwards formed the 
state of West Virginia. 

4. The gathering of the Union army along Chesapeake Bay and 

the Potomac River, around Washington, along the Ohio 
River, and in Missouri. 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE LAND 



197 



5. The gathering of a Confederate army to oppose the Union 
army. 

There were thus two great armies drawn up in various places 
on opposite sides of a line stretching from near the mouth of 
James River in Virginia up the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac 
River to Harpers Ferry, then along the mountains to western 
Virginia, and then westward through Kentucky and Missouri 
To break through this line and drive the Confederate forces 
back was the aim of the Union commanders. 

Just southwest of Washington, and between it and Rich- BuiiRun 
mond, was a Confederate force, and with this, in July, 1861, a 
Union army fought the famous battle of Bull Run. The Union 
soldiers were defeated and put to flight. 

General McClellan was now placed in command of the Union Forts 
troops near Washington, and while he was drilling them an j^g[ s " d 
attempt was made to 
break through the 
Confederate line west 
of Virginia. Where 
the line crossed the 
Cumberland and Ten- 
nessee rivers, just 
south of Kentucky, 
were two forts called 
Donelson and .Henry. 
Against these two 
forts General Ulysses 

S. Grant advanced with an army, and Flag Officer Foote with 
a fleet. 

Grant was born in a little town in Ohio, at a time when 
that part of our country was very near the frontier. While a 

MOM. PB. H. 13 




Part of the battlefield of Bull Run 



198 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE LAND 



Dlysses S. 
Grant 



Battles in 
Tennessee 



Opening the 
Mississippi 



boy he did much hard work on his father's farm, besides going 
to school a few weeks each winter. When he was seventeen 
he became a cadet in the Military Academy at West Point, and 
during the Mexican War he served under General Taylor and 
then under General Scott. A few years after the war he left 
the army and went to live on a farm near St. Louis ; and the 
log cabin in which he lived he built with his own hands. But 
he did not succeed very well as a farmer, so he went to St. 
Louis and became a real estate agent. This venture also failed, 
and he became a clerk in his father's leather and hardware store 
in Illinois. There he was when President Lincoln made the first 
call for troops to defend the Union. 

Grant at once offered his services and showed himself so 
able a soldier that early in 1862 he was sent with Flag Officer 
Foote to make the attack on the Confederate Forts Henry and 

Donelson. The attempt 
was successful. Foote 
took Fort Henry, and 
Grant took Fort Donel- 
son ; and the Confederate 
line was cut in two. The 
Southern troops retreated 
southward to a place 
called Corinth, in Missis- 
sippi. Grant followed, 
and in April, 1862, was 
attacked at Shiloh. The 
fight raged for two days, 
when the Confederates fell back again to Corinth, and a few 
weeks later they retreated still farther. 

Memphis now surrendered, and the Mississippi River was 
opened as far south as Vicksburg. It was also opened near 




Confederate Capitol, Richmond 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE LAND 



199 



the Gulf ; for in April, 1862, a fleet under Flag Officer Farragut 
forced its way up the Mississippi, passing the Confederate forts 
near its mouth, captured 
New Orleans, and landed 
an army to hold the city. 
Now let us see what 
had happened in the East 
in 1862. As Richmond was 
the capital of the Confed- 
erate States, the North 
insisted that it should be 
captured, and early in 
1862 preparations were 
made to attack it. One 
army was sent into the 
Shenandoah valley in 
western Virginia to pre- 
vent the Confederates 
from coming down that 
valley to attack Washing- 
ton from the west. An- 




. 10 20 30 40 60 



Country around Washington 



other was stationed in front of Washington to prevent an attack 
from the south. A third, under McClellan, was taken in ships Peninsular 
down Chesapeake Bay to a point near famous old Yorktown, Cam P ai e n 
where General Cornwallis surrendered to Washington in 1781. 
After capturing this place McClellan advanced up the peninsula 
between the York and James rivers, fighting as he went, till he 
came to a place called White House Landing, whence he moved 
westward toward Richmond. 

But McClellan was forced back by General R. E. Lee to 
a place on the James River, whence his army was taken by boat 
to the Potomac River near Washington. 



200 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON TILE LAND 



Robert E 
Lee 




Lee's home, at Arlington 



Lee was a native of 
Virginia, had been edu- 
cated at West Point, and 
down to the time when 
Virginia seceded had 
been an officer in the 
army of the United 
States. He had served 
on the frontier and in 
the war with Mexico, 
had been for three years 
at the head of the Mili- 
tary Academy at West Point, and was a soldier of great ability. 
Just before the outbreak of the war, Lee, who was then a colonel 
serving in Texas, was called to Washington; and after the 
attack on Sumter he was offered the command of the Union 
troops. But Virginia at once seceded, and Lee resigned his 
place in the army of the United States and was put in com- 
mand of the troops of Virginia. Soon afterwards he was made 
a Confederate general, but it was not till McClellan was mov- 
ing upon Richmond that Lee was given command of a large 
army. The Confederate general who at first was pitted against 
McClellan (General Joseph E. Johnston) was wounded in the 
fighting near Richmond, and then Lee took command of the 
Confederate army and forced McClellan back. 

When McClellan sailed away, Lee attacked the Union army 
that had been stationed in front of Washington, beat it in a 
second battle of Bull Run, and crossing the Potomac entered 
Maryland. McClellan gave chase, overtook Lee, and fought a 
Antietam desperate battle at Antietam Creek, after which Lee returned 
to Virginia. McClellan was now removed from command and 
General Burnside was put in his place. But before the year 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE LAND 



201 



ended Burnside was badly beaten in an attack on Fredericks- Battles in 
burg, and a few weeks later General Hooker was given Virgmia 
command. 

"Fighting Joe," as Hooker was called, took the field in the 
spring of 1863, led his army against Lee, and was beaten at 
Chancellorsville. Lee now repeated his attempt of the pre- 
vious summer : he rushed around Hooker, crossed the Potomac, 
crossed Maryland, and marched into Pennsylvania as far as 
Gettysburg. As the Union army hurried along in pursuit, Gettysburg 
General Meade was put in command in place of Hooker. At 
Gettysburg, on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, was fought the great 
and decisive battle of the war. The fighting was desperate. 
The loss on each side was terrible. But Lee was beaten and 
went back to Virginia ; and in the East no more great battles 
were fought till the following spring. 




Battlefield of Gettysburg 

The field of Gettysburg is now dotted over with beautiful 
monuments marking the positions held by the Union regi- 
ments during this greatest battle of the war. On the hill 



202 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE LAND 



behind the village, on a part of the field fought over, is a 
national cemetery where lie buried more than 3500 Union dead. 
The On July 4, 1863, the day after the end of the battle of Get- 

^ 1 e " i " ippi tysburg, General Grant captured Vicksburg. Port Hudson 
next fell ; the Mississippi was all in Union hands and the Con- 
federacy was cut in two. 

It was now the turn of the Confederates to win a victory. 

An army of them had been driven from Tennessee into the 

extreme northwest corner of Georgia, where they were eu- 

chickamauga camped near a little creek called the Chickamauga. Having 

- received more troops, General Bragg, who com- 

^—. .,•■■..• raanded them, attacked the Union 

• ■■ — ' 

^ army under General Rose- 



crans (September 19 and 20) 

and beat it so badly that if 

would have been put to flight 

had it not been for the skill 

of General George H. Thomas. 

His firmness on that disas- 

ous field won him the name of 

the Rock of Chickamauga. The 

Union army, however, was forced 

to retreat to Chattanooga, in Tennessee ; and then General 

Bragg posted his troops on the hills and mountains about the 

town, and shut in General Rosecrans. 

More troops were now sent and General Grant was put in 
Chattanooga command, and then the situation changed. The Confederates 
were attacked and driven from their positions, in three days 
of fighting. As the second day was cold and rainy, the clouds 
had settled down on the mountain sides so that fighting actually 
occurred above them, and the battle of Lookout Mountain is 
often called the Battle above the Clouds. After the great 




Lookout Mountain 



The 
fighting near 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE LAND 



203 



m 




A Union soldier 



Sherman did 



battle of Missionary Ridge, on the third day, the Confeder- 
ates retreated to Georgia, and the command of their 
army was given to General Joseph E. Johnston. 

The Confederates had now but two great The union 
armies in the field, — the one under Lee in P lanini86 * 
Virginia, and the other under Johnston in 
northern Georgia. To meet these, two Union 
generals were selected. General Grant was 
put at the head of all the armies of the United 
States, with the rank of Lieutenant General, 
and to him was assigned the duty of beating 
Lee. General W. T. Sherman was given a 
large army in the West, and his duty was to 
crush the forces of General Johnston. 

Each began his task on the same day, May what 
4, 1864. Sherman attacked Johnston, 
and drove him step by step through 
the mountains to Atlanta. There Johnston was re- 
moved and his army was put under General 
Hood, who, after trying in vain to beat Sherman, 
turned and started back toward Tennessee, 
hoping to draw Sherman after him. But Sher- 
man sent Thomas, the Rock of Chickamauga, 
to deal with Hood, and Thomas destroyed 
Hood's army in a terrible battle at Nashville 
in December, 1864. In the meantime Sher- 
man started to march from Atlanta to the 
sea. The army advanced in four columns, cover- 
ing a stretch of country sixty miles wide, and 
living on the country as they went. They 
tore up the railroads, destroyed the bridges, 
and in December, 1864, occupied Savannah, a Confederate soldier 




204 



WAR *OK THE UNION ON THE LAND 




Sherman's march to the sea 



What 
Grant did 



There Sherman stayed for a month, during which his soldiers 
became impatient. " Uncle Billy," they would call out as he 
went by them, " I guess Grant is waiting for us at Richmond." 

February 1, 1865, the march was resumed, and was continued 
across South Carolina to Goldsboro in North Carolina. 

Grant, according to agreement, began his attack on Lee in 
Virginia the same day that Sherman marched against Johnston 
in Georgia. Starting from a place called Culpeper Court 
House, Grant's army entered the Wilderness* a tract of coun- 
try covered with a dense growth of oak and pine, and after 
much hard fighting made its way around Richmond and laid 
siege to Petersburg. 

After a time Lee saw that he could no longer hold these 
cities, and in April, 1865, he left Richmond and marched 
westward. Grant followed, and on April 9, 1865, Lee surren- 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE LAND 205 

dered his array at Appomattox Court House. Johnston sur- 
rendered to Sherman near Raleigh in North Carolina about two 
weeks later ; Jefferson Davis was taken prisoner in May. 

This ended the war ; the Confederacy fell to pieces ; and End of the 
the Union was saved. Once more there was but one govern- war 
ment for the United States. 

SUMMARY 

1. With the firing on Sumter the Civil War began, and Union and Con- 

federate armies were soon gathered at various places along the Poto- 
mac River, in western Virginia, in Kentucky, and in Missouri. 

2. 1861, July. A Union army tried to drive back the Confederates in 

Virginia, but was defeated in the battle of Bull Run. 

3. 1862, February. The Union forces in the W r est took Forts Henry and 

Donelson, after which they pushed southward across Tennessee. 

4. 1862, April to August. General McClellan moved up the Peninsula 

from Yorktown, but failed to take Richmond, and returned north 
by sea. 

5. 1862, August-September. The Confederates under Lee now started 

to invade the North, but turned back after a great battle at 
Antietam. 

6. 1862, December; 1863, May. The Union army in the East twice 

advanced against the Confederates, and was beaten at Fredericksburg 
and at Chancellorsville. 

7. 1863, June-July. Lee began a second invasion of the North, but was 

beaten at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 

8. 1863, July. Vicksburg and Port Hudson were captured, and the Mis- 

sissippi River was now in Union hands. 

9. 1863, September; November. The Confederates in the West de- 

feated the Union army at Chickamauga, but General Grant took 
command and defeated them near Chattanooga. 
10. 1864, May, to 1865, April. General Sherman fought his way from 
Tennessee to Atlanta and marched across Georgia to Savannah, and 
then north to Raleigh. At the same time General Grant carried on 
a bloody campaign against Lee, and at last forced him out of Rich- 
mond and compelled him to surrender at Appomattox Court House. 



206 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE WATER 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE WATER 
Duties of the On the Union navy, during the war, fell duties of five 

Un.onnavy kindg . _ 

1. It blockaded the coast from Chesapeake Bay to the Ric 

Grande in Texas. 

2. It helped to capture the seaports and forts scattered along 

this great coast line. 

3. It got control of the bays and sounds along the coast, as 

Chesapeake, Albemarle, Pamlico, Mobile, Galveston. 

4. It aided the army in opening the rivers, as the Mississippi, 

Arkansas, Tennessee, Red. 

5. It tried to protect the commerce of the United States on the 
ocean, and to destroy all Confederate cruisers. 



The blockade 




A seaport is blockaded by keeping, off the 
entrance, armed ships to fire on any vessel that 
tries to go in or come out. To blockade all 
the bays, sounds, and harbors of our coast, 
from Norfolk to Texas, was a hard task and 
required a great number of ships. Trad- 
ing ships, river steamboats of all sizes, tugs, 
and ferryboats were therefore bought by 
the government, and the blockade began. 
To make it as complete as possible, the 
hulks of old whalers were taken from New 
England to some of the Southern ports, 
filled with stone, and were sunk in the 
channels. Trade with the South was thus ended unless vessels 
could run the blockade, and that is. just what they did. 



An old whaler 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE WATER 



207 




A blockade runner 



The South raised millions of bales of cotton, which were sold Blockade 
to manufacturers in Great Britain and made into cotton cloth. running 
Great Britain depended on the South for cotton, and in order 
to get it, blockade running became a regular business and was 
engaged in by many trading firms in Liverpool. Some had as 
many as fifteen vessels. At first 
they were old craft, so that if 
they were captured the loss 
would not be great. But speed 
soon became so important that 
ships were especially built for 
the work. They were long, low 
steamers, drawing but a few feet 
of water, and having great speed. 

They burned hard coal, which made no smoke, and were painted 
a dull gray, so as not to be easily seen. 

The port of Nassau in the British island of New Providence, 
off the coast of southern Florida, was selected as the place from 
which the runners were to start, and to it were brought arms, 
salt, gunpowder, medicine, boots, clothing, whatever the Con- 
federates wanted. At Nassau the goods were loaded on a 
blockade runner, whose departure was so nicely timed that the 
vessel would be off the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, on 
a night when the moon did not shine and when the tide was 
high. Then, trusting to the darkness, the runner would dash 
through the line of blockading warships and by daylight would 
be safe in Confederate waters. After landing the smuggled 
cargo the vessel would be loaded with cotton, and during a dark 
night or storm would run out and steam back to Nassau. Some 
blockade runners went to Charleston instead of Wilmington. 
As neither of these cities was captured till near the end of the 
war, this blockade running grew to be a large business. 



208 



WAR FOR TIIE UNION ON TTTE WATER 



Confederate 
cruisers 



Another way in which Great Britain helped the South was 
by allowing' the Confederates to fit out vessels in England for 
the purpose of capturing or sinking the trading ships of the 
United States. Several of these commerce destroyers were 
fitted out, but the Alabama was the most famous of them. 
The Alabama was built for the Confederacy at Liverpool, Eng- 
land, and in spite of the protests of the United States minister 
at London was allowed to go to sea. 

Off the Azores Islands she was met by a British vessel hav- 
ing on board her guns and ammunition, and by a steamer with 




Pointing by J. V. Davidson 



The Alabama and the Kearsarge 



Copyright, 1892, by C Klackner 



her crew and Captain Raphael Semmes. Sailing leisurely 
across the Atlantic the Alabama burned twenty vessels, cap- 
tured a mail steamer in the West Indies, destroyed one of the 
warships blockading Galveston, and took her place off the east 
coast of Brazil in the pathway of ships homeward bound from 
the East Indies and the Pacific. Here ten prizes were taken, 
after which the Alabama went to the Cape of Good Hope, and 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE WATER 



209 



then to the China Sea ; then back once more to the Cape of 
Good Hope and by way of Brazil and the Azores to the port of 
Cherbourg in France, having captured sixty-six vessels during 
her cruise. 

While the Alabama was anchored in the harbor of Cherbourg, 
the United States cruiser Kearsarge entered the port. A chal- 
lenge to fight was sent and accepted, and one Sunday morning in 
June, 1864, the two ships met in combat off the coast of France, 
and when the battle ended the Alabama sank to the bottom of 
the sea. Most of the other Confederate cruisers in one way or 
another fell into the hands of United States authorities. After 
the war Great Britain was forced to pay $15,500,000 for the 
damage she did to American shipping by allowing the Con- 
federate cruisers to leave her ports. 

Another very famous ship duel was that of the Monitor and 
the Merrimac. 

When the war opened in 1861, one of the finest navy yards The Merrimac 
in the United States was near Norfolk, Virginia. Having no 
means to defend it, the 
officer in command set 
fire to the shops, houses, 
and ships, and tried to 
blow up the great dry 
dock. One of the vessels 
which burned to the water's 
edge and then sank was 
the steam frigate Merri- 
mac; but the Confederates 
found that her engines and 

the hull under water were not damaged, so they raised her and 
made her into an ironclad ram. Her deck was almost level with 
the water, and on it was built a sort of long, low house with 




KfCii 



^H%h&' : &^^ 




i..-.rtk 




J! 



The Merrimac 



210 WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE WATER 

sloping sides covered with thick plates of iron. In the sides 
were holes for the guns., At the bow, about two feet under 
water, was a cast-iron ram. 

To make these changes was slow work, so it was March, 1862, 
before the Virginia, as the Merrimac was renamed by the Con- 
federates, steamed out upon the broad sheet of water called 
Hampton Roads. Just across the Roads lay at anchor the 
Union war vessels, Cumberland and Congress, toward which she 
now made her way. As she drew near, the guns on the Cumber- 
land and the Congress opened fire ; but their shot glanced from 
her iron sides like pebbles, and keeping steadily on, the Merrimac 
drove her ram into the side of the Cumberland, crushed it like 
an eggshell, and, backing away, left a hole " wide enough to 
drive in a horse and cart." Through this the water poured 
till the gallant ship filled and sank, her flag flying and her guns 
booming as she went down. 

Turning to the Congress, the Merrimac, after an hour's fight- 
ing, forced her to surrender and set her on fire. As it was 
now late in the afternoon, the Merrimac drew off and left a 
third ship, the Minnesota, to be destroyed in the morning ; but 
when morning came, there lay beside the Minnesota a small, 
odd-looking craft, that had arrived at Hampton Roads the 
The Monitor JL night before. It was the Moni- 

jESSS! tor, designed by Captain John 

L Qlifc^ ~ y ^~* Ericsson, built at New York, 

„., , .. „ . and sent round by sea. Her 

Side view of the Monitor J 

broad deck was almost as low 
as the surface of the water, and was plated with sheets of iron. 
On the deck was an iron cylinder or turret which could be made 
to revolve by machinery, and in this were two very large guns. 
The Monitor's voyage from New York was a terrible one. 
The waves swept the deck, and rolled completely over the 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE WATER 



211 



cf the 
Monitor 



little pilot house in the bow, sending floods of water through The voyage 
the sight holes and once knocking the helmsman from the 
wheel. Torrents of water came down the smokestack, and 
poured in streams through 
cracks and crannies into the 
hull. The fires were nearly 
put out and the engine room 
so filled with gas that no man 
could live there. More than 
once it seemed certain that 
the little craft must founder 
in the sea. But she kept 
afloat, and as she rounded 
Cape Henry late on the after- 
noon of March 8, 1862, the 
distant booming of guns told 
the crew that a fight was ra- 
ging, for the Merrimac was 
then engaged in the destruc- 
tion of the Congress. Dark- 
ness came on before the scene 
of action was reached, but as 
the Monitor came up the 
Roads those on board saw 
the Congress burning. 

About eight o'clock the 




Pointing hy 
■7. O. Jjaviiiiim 



Burning of the 
Congress 



Copyright, 1892, 
by C. Klackiter 



next morning, the Merrimac was seen coming across the Roads 
to finish the work she had left undone the evening before. 
Whether or not that work was to remain undone, depended 
solely upon the insignificant little craft flying the Union flag 
and looking, it was said, " like a cheese box mounted on a raft," 
which now swung free from her moorings and started forth to 



212 



WAR FOR THE UNION ON THE WATER 



The 

first battle 
of ironclads 



battle. During four hours the fighting raged without either 
ship being able to harm the other seriously. The Merrimae 
then withdrew, and the Monitor went back to her place beside 
the Minnesota. In one sense neither ship won ; but as the pur- 
pose of the Merrimae was to destroy the Minnesota, and the 
purpose of the Monitor was to prevent it, the victory was with 
the Monitor. Yet the light was the greatest in modern times. 
Never before in the world's history had two ironclad ships 
engaged in battle; and when it was over, the days of wooden 
navies were gone, and all warships had to be built anew out of 
iron or steel. 




Painting by W. // 



Farragut in Mobile Bay 



In May, 1862, when the Confederates left Norfolk, the Mer- 
rimae was destroyed by her crew. And in January, 1803, the 
Monitor was lost in a storm at sea. 



REBUILDING THE SOUTHERN STATES 213 

But it must not be supposed that the services of the navy Naval battles 



ended with the blockade of the coast and the defeat of the Ala- 
bama and Merrimao. Desperate battles were fought and victo- 
ries won on the western rivers and in the bays of the southern 
coast. It was Farragut's fleet that ran past the forts on the 
lower Mississippi and captured New Orleans ; it was Foote's 
flotilla that took Fort Henry on the Tennessee ; it was Davis's 
fleet that cleared the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio 
to Memphis (1862). Porter's fleet ran by the forts at Vicks- 
burg to assist the army under Grant (1863), and Farragut 
destroyed the Confederate fleet in Mobile Bay (1864). The 
fleet under Dupont, aided by the army, captured Port Royal 
(1861). All along the Atlantic coast of the Confederate States 
the services of the navy were conspicuous. 

SUMMARY 

1. The navy had five duties. 

2. The blockade of Southern ports cut off the cotton supply of Great Britain 

and led to blockade running. 

3. The South obtained several commerce destroyers. The most famous of 

these, the Alabama, was sunk in a fight with the Kearsarge. 

4. Another famous sea fight was that of the Monitor and the Merrlmac. 

5. Other naval victories were won for the Union on the Mississippi River; 

at New Orleans ; in Mobile Bay ; and along the Atlantic coast. 

CHAPTER XXIII 

REBUILDING THE SOUTHERN STATES 

There is another side to the war besides the fights on land 
and sea, and that is the cost in life and money. 

While the war was going on, President Lincoln called twelve 
times for volunteers. To these calls there were about 2,770,000 

McM. PR. H. 14 



on rivers 
and bays 



214 



REBUILDING THE SOUTHERN STATES 




Union Cemetery at Arlington 



what the war |j responses , each time 

cost in life , i , » 

many thousands of 
men left their homes 
and occupations, and 
served in the defense 
of the Union. This 
does not mean that 
there were 2,770,000 
soldiers in the field at 
any one time. Some 
served for three 
months, some for six, 
some for a year, 
others for three years. 
Very often the same 
men would enlist again when their term was out. The greatest 
number of men in the army was in April, 18G5, when 1,000,000 
were under pay, and of these 650,000 carried arms. During 
the four years of fighting about 360,000 men died in defense of 
the Union. As the Confederate loss was probably as great, we 
may believe that the war cost the lives of 700,000 citizens, 
what the war To understand fully the cost in money is outpf the question. 

cost in money 

1. There was the national debt, amounting in 1865 to over 

$2,800,000,000. Nearly all of this money had been spent 
on the war. 

2. Between 1862 and 1865 there was raised by taxation nearly 

$800,000,000. The greater part of this also went for war 
purposes. 

3. There was interest to pay on the national debt, and pensions 

for the disabled soldiers and sailors, and for the widows 
and orphans of the men who lost their lives. 



REBUILDING THE SOUTHERN STATES 



215 



Between 1861 and 1879 our national government spent on 
account of the war more than $6,000,000,000. The states also 
spent large sums of money, and so did the cities and towns. 
Their war expenditure amounted to more than $450,000,000. 

You are not expected to remember these figures. Nobody 
can understand what $6,000,000,000 means. The sums spent 
are given in order that you may know in a general way what 
the people of the North did in order that our Union might be 
preserved, that, as Mr. Lincoln said, " government of the peo- 
ple, by the people, for the people, may not perish from the 
earth." 

What have we gained by the war? 



1. 

9, 



We have shown that our Union is firm and can not be broken. 

We have increased respect for our government at home and 
abroad. There are no 
more threats of seces- 
sion ; no more fears that 
government by the peo- 
ple can not endure ; no 
more doubts that when- 
ever necessary the peo- 
ple will rally to its sup- 
port and defense. 

Slavery, which made so 
much trouble for eighty 
years, has been abol- 
ished. The negro now 
has the " inalienable 
rights " of man men- 
tioned in the Declara- 
tion of Independence. 




Monument to Confederate dead, Richmond 



216 



REBUILDING THE SOUTHERN STATES 



Lincoln 
murdered 



- V ^" 



Mr. Lincoln was reelected President in the autumn of 1864, 
and a second time sworn into office on the 4th of March, 1865. 
It was only a few weeks after this that Lee surrendered (April 
9); and on the 14th of April, four years after the attack 
on Fort Sumter, the old flag was again raised over the ruins. 
On the evening of that day Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theater, 
Washington, by an actor named John Wilkes Booth. 

Booth belonged to a party of conspirators, one of whom that 
same night made his way into the home 
of Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, and 
• stabbed him as he lay on a sick bed. 
Lincoln died the next day, but Sew- 
ard recovered. Booth was tracked 
to his hiding place in Virginia and 
was shot. Four other conspirators 
were hanged, and still others were 
" imprisoned for life. 
On the death of Lincoln, the Vice- 
President, Andrew Johnson of Tennes- 
johnsonand see, became President, and took up the work of reconstructing 
the congress tne Confederate States. The governors and other officers of 
these states, — men who had helped the Confederacy, — were 
put out of office, and Union men were elected or appointed to 
take their places. The states then chose senators and repre- 
sentatives to sit in the Congress of the United States. 

Like Lincoln, President Johnson believed that no state had 
a right to leave the Union. Therefore, he said, none ever 
had left the Union, and now the war was over, the states that 
had belonged to the Confederacy had as much right as ever to 
send senators and representatives to Congress. 

Congress denied this, and when the Southern members came 
refused to admit them to seats. Congress said that the eleven 




Ford's Theater 



REBUILDING THE SOUTHERN STATES 



217 




Birthplace of President Johnson 



seceded states must do certain things before they could be 
entitled to representation. Johnson then declared that if they 
were not represented, Congress had no right to 
make laws affecting them. 

In this manner a quarrel began (between 
the President and Congress), which 
went on from bad to worse. At 
• , last Johnson, having purposely 
broken a law, and having 
traveled about the country 
making speeches abusing Con- 
, gress, was impeached and 
. brought to trial in order 
that if found guilty he might 
be removed from the office 
of President. He was not 
found guilty, and served out his term. But no seceded state 
was admitted to representation till it had done as Congress 
demanded. 

Meantime the condition of affairs in the reconstructed states 
was dreadful. 

When the war began, the people of the North were intent The abolition 
on saving the Union; but as trie strife went on, the feeling ofslaver y 
became general that there never could be a lasting Union so 
long as slavery existed in any of the states, and great efforts 
were made to secure its abolition. It was abolished in the 
territories and the District of Columbia by 'act of Congress. 
On the 1st of January, 1863, President Lincoln freed all slaves 
within the Confederate lines. But this merely gave freedom 
to certain negroes and did not affect the right of white men 
to hold slaves. Moreover, the emancipation proclamation, as it 
is called, was not heeded in the Confederate States till after 



218 



REBUILDING THE SOUTHERN STATES 




Lincoln Emancipation Statue 



The negroes' 
vote 



the war ; nor did it ever free any slaves in the Union States 
of Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, 
nor in Tennessee and certain parts of Louisiana and 
Virginia. The right of a state to permit its citi- 
zens to hold slaves was not taken away till after 
the war, when, by an addition (amendment) to 
the federal Constitution, slavery was ended 
forever in our country. 

The position of the negroes was greatly 
changed when they were set free, for they 
were also given the right to vote, and, 
having this right, they elected men of their 
own race to office. Ignorant negroes, un- 
able to read ■ or write or understand the 
meaning of a law, were sent to make laws for the whites as 
well as themselves. Not knowing what to do, they easily fell 
under the lead of bad white men, who thus got control of 
the Southern States. The whites, the old citizens, being out- 
numbered by the negroes, began to prevent the negroes from 
voting. Negroes were paid money not to go to the polls, or 
were frightened away. Sometimes force was used. 

Many people now felt that 
to set the slaves free was 
not enough. The freed- 
men, as they were called, 
must be protected. Ac- 
cordingly two more 
additions were made to 
the federal Constitution. 
They were intended to 
secure to the negroes all 
the rights white men Negro cabm 




REBUILDING THE SOUTHERN STATES 



219 



have in our country, 
and to prevent any 
state from taking 
away the negroes' 
right to vote. 

In spite of these 
amendments, which 
are part of the su- 
preme law of our 
land, the suppression 
of negro votes went 
on. Congress then Grant>s tomb> New York 

passed a law to pun- 
ish those engaged in such unlawful acts. But even this law 
had to be enforced by the use of the army. Not till 1877, 
twelve years after the war ended, did affairs in the South quiet 
down, and the country show signs of being really reunited. 
The term of Andrew Johnson and the two terms of President 
Grant (who followed Johnson in office) are therefore in some 
ways the darkest in our history. 




SUMMARY 

1. The war had not quite ended when President Lincoln was murdered 

and Andrew Johnson became President. 

2. The question next to be settled was, Shall the states lately in the Con- 

federacy be allowed to send senators and representatives to Congress? 

3. The President thought they should be allowed to do so. Congress thought 

they should not until they were reconstructed. 

4. Out of this grew a quarrel, in the course of which Johnson was impeached, 

but not found guilty. 

5. The states were now reconstructed on the congressional plan, and three 

changes were made in the federal Constitution. 



220 THE RISE OF THE NEW WEST 

CHAPTER XXIV 

THE RISE OF THE NEW WEST 

The We have seen, in the course of our story, that from the time 

migration tne English colonies were planted on the Atlantic coast the 

people began moving westward. At first the migration was 

slow. But it went steadily on till at last the English began 

to crowd the French in the Allegheny valley, and so brought 

on the French and Indian War. The frontier was then east 

of the Appalachian Mountains. 

To the As a result of that long struggle the French were driven 

vaiiey SIPP1 ^ rom our country, and English colonists went into Kentucky 

and Tennessee. After the War for Independence, the people 

moved into Ohio, and pushing steadily westward soon occupied 

much of our country east of the Mississippi River. By 1821 

they had crossed that river and rnade the state of Missouri. 

The frontier was then in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Louisiana. 

During a long time no other states were formed west of the 

Mississippi, but between 1836 and 1846 Arkansas, Texas, and 

Iowa were admitted into the Union. 

To the So far the movement westward had been a natural one. But 

Pacific coast w j^ ^ di scover y f g \^ m 1848, we enter on a period when 

the precious metals play a chief part in the rush of people west- 
ward. The same thirst for gold which sent the early Spaniard 
wandering over New Mexico and Arizona in the days of 
Coronado, sent our people in 1849 to California, and ten years 
later into what we know as Colorado. 
Colorado The territory of Kansas then included part of what is 
now Colorado, and there, in 1858, a party of gold hunters came 
upon some rich mines. As the news spread, men rushed to 
Kansas just as they did to California, and in a few months a 



THE RISE OF THE NEW WEST 



221 



busy little town called Denver sprang up near Pikes Peak 
fmap, p. 223). 

These miners needed supplies and connection with the East, 
and to get them, some enterprising men started a line of stages 
which ran daily between Denver 
and Leavenworth. 

Even this was not 
enough for the restless, 
daring, enterprising 
people. A better mail 
service was wanted 
between California 
and the East. Sena- 
tor Gwin of Cali- 
fornia therefore urged 
the stage company to 
send a pony express across 
the two thousand miles which Pony express 

separated the city of Sacramento 
from the Missouri River, and in the year 1860 this was done. 

As the purpose of the express was to carry the mail, speed The pony 
was to be considered. But to gain speed the distance run by a express 
pony must be short. Stations were therefore established every 
fifteen or twenty-five miles, and at these were fresh horses for 
the riders. Mounted on his pony, a mail carrier would start 
every day from each end of the line, ride at a gallop to the 
first relay, leap on the back of a fresh horse standing ready, 
hurry on to the second station, mount another pony almost 
without stopping, and ride off at breakneck speed for the third 
station. There, sitting in the saddle, would be found a second 
rider. Dashing up to him, the first would deliver the mail 
pouch, and in a moment the fresh carrier would be off. By day 




222 THE RISE OF THE NEW WEST 

and by night, in sunshine and in rain, in summer and in winter, 
over prairie and mountain, these brave men made their perilous 
rides with the precision of a railroad train. As two hundred and 
fifty miles must be made each day, not a pound of extra weight 
was allowed. Every letter must be written and every news- 
paper printed on the thinnest tissue paper, and on each of them 
five dollars must be paid as the cost of carriage. No service 
was ever more dangerous, and not a rider but could tell of fights 
with the Indians, of hardships suffered, and of hairbreadth 
escapes from death. 

After an existence of two years, the pony express came to an 
end ; for a telegraph line had then been completed across the 
continent, and all important news went over the wire. 

Next came the overland stage, carrying passengers, letters, 
and packages. From the first the stages were objects of hatred 




The overland stage 



to the Indians, who made a stage ride across the continent a 
journey full of danger. Finally, in 1862, while our country was 
struggling for its very life, Congress authorized the building of 



THE RISE OF THE NEW WEST 



223 



a railroad connecting the Missouri River with the state of The first 
California. Two companies were to do the work ; the Central ^^a 
Pacific, starting at Sacramento in California, was to build 
eastward ; the other, the Union Pacific, beginning at Omaha, 
Nebraska, was to push westward till the two met. Work was 
not begun in earnest till Lee had surrendered and the Union 
had been saved. But then it went on so rapidly that in May, 
1869, the two lines met near Ogden, Utah. The all-rail 
route from the Atlantic to the Pacific was finished. Miners, 
settlers, ranchmen, now hurried to the West, and in 1876 
Colorado, which fifteen years before was little better than a 
howling wilderness, became a state in the Union. It was the 
thirty-eighth state ; for between 1858 and 1867 there had been 
admitted Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada, 
and Nebraska. 

But one railroad to the Pacific was not enough. The northern The Northern 
part of our country must have one also, and in 1870 the build- Paci c 
ing of the Northern Pacific, from Lake Superior to Puget Sound, 
was begun. On the day the first rail was laid that marvelous 
and beautiful region was almost without white settlers. Duluth 







The northwestern part of our country 



224 THE RISE OF THE NEW WEST 

had just been founded. Superior city was a collection of huts 
in the woods on the lake shore. Westward of these places, not 
a town existed for a thousand miles. Save a few military posts 
and trading stations, not a white man's house could be found 
between Lake Superior and the Rocky Mountains, where some 
pioneer miners were opening the gold mines of Montana. From 
the Missouri to the mountains the whole region was held by the 
Indians. It was their buffalo hunting grounds, to which each 
year came tribes from the north and from the south to lay in 
their winter store of buffalo jerked meat and skins. At the 
falls of the Missouri was Fort Benton, a frontier post. To it, 
when the water was high, steamboats came, bringing supplies 
for the Indian reservations and the Montana miners, and 
taking back gold, buffalo robes, and cattle. 

Two hundred miles westward, in the mountains of Montana, 
was a community of miners and ranchmen who had come there 
during the war and founded Helena and several other towns. 
Some were miners, some raised grain and vegetables, and others 
herded cattle. 

Beyond the Rockies, in the valleys of rivers running into the 
Columbia, were more miners'; but no large settlement existed 
east of Oregon. As the railroad pushed on across this wilder- 
ness, all began to change. Settlers came in, towns were 
founded, and farming was begun on an immense scale. To-day 
this region, once thought of small account, is a great wheat- 
growing section of our country. 

The white man now occupied most of the continent. Let 

us see what had become of the Indians. 

Indian wars We have seen how from the very start they resisted the 

m the East comm g f tj ie white man, and how in spite of all they could 

do they were pushed steadily westward. We have seen the 

Pequots destroyed in Connecticut, and other eastern Indians 



THE KISE OF THE NEW WEST 



225 




An Indian home 



crushed for the aid 

they gave King 

Philip. We have 

seen the Indians as 

allies of the French 

fighting along the 

whole frontier for 

nearly seventy-five 

years (1689-1763), 

in a desperate effort 

to keep back the 

English. We have 

seen them (after the 

French were driven from America) righting under Pontiac, 

in the vain attempt to drive the white man out of the valley 

of the Mississippi, as Philip and his successors had striven to 

drive them out of New England; and we have seen the long 

struggle in Kentucky, a struggle so fierce that the region was 

well named " the dark and bloody ground." 

What thus went on in the colonial days went on for a Indian wars 
hundred years more. Scarcely had the early settlers in Ohio in0hl ° 
put up their cabins at Marietta and Cincinnati when the near-by 
tribes dug up the hatchet and began a war of extermination. 
They beat one army under General Harmar, cut to pieces 
another under General St. Clair, and spread terror along the 
border, till General Anthony Wayne destroyed their power in 
a great battle in northwestern Ohio. 

During seventeen years the settlers were unmolested. But Tecumsen 
the steady stream of white men ever moving westward, cutting 
down the forests, killing the beaver, the buffalo, and other game, 
and forcing the Indians to new hunting grounds, at length 
aroused another great chief, Tecumseh. He, too, attempted 



226 



THE RISE OE THE NEW WEST 



Removal of 
the Indians 



West of the 
Mississippi 



what Philip and Pontiac had tried in vain : he sought to join 
all the tribes in one grand attack on the frontier, in one desper- 
ate effort to drive back the white man. But General William 
Henry Harrison broke his power in the battle of Tippecanoe 
in Indiana (1811), and three years later the great chief lost his 
life in the battle of the Thames in Canada. 

Meantime the southern Indians, aroused by Tecumseh, took 
the warpath, and in their turn were crushed by General Jack- 
son in Alabama and in Florida. 

It was now quite clear that all the strong tribes of Indians 
must go from the country east of the Mississippi River, and 
when Jackson was President a region west of that river (Indian 
Territory) was set apart for their use, and the work of removal 
was begun. Some went quietly, others resisted, and two more 
wars followed before the last tribe crossed the great river : the 

short struggle of 
Black Hawk in Illi- 
nois and Wisconsin 
(1832) and the seven 
years' war by Osceola 
and others in Florida 
(1835-1842). 

Over the vast wil- 
derness covering most 
of the territory be- 
tween the Mississippi 
and the Rocky Moun- 
tains it seemed as if 
the Indians might 
roam unmolested. But gold and silver were discovered ; the 
white man was soon rushing over the plains and mountains, 
and the Indians were again in the way. Some had been sent 




Party of northwestern Indiai 



THE RISE OF THE NEW WEST 



227 



to Indian Territory. Others were moved to reservations in the 
Northwest, only to be moved again and again, as the farmer, the 
miner, the cattleman, the railroad, closed in around them. 

As in the past, so now a desperate struggle followed. The 
Sioux (1862) rose in Minnesota and began the most horrid 
massacre the country had known since colonial days. They 
were put down, but the discovery of gold in the Sioux reserva- 
tion in Montana (18G6) aroused Red Cloud, and another war fol- 
lowed. The outbreaks made by the chief Black Kettle, by Crazy 
Horse, and by Spotted Tail ; the massacre of General Custer 
and his men by the Sioux in southern Montana ; the Modoc 
War, growing out of an attempt to move the Modocs from 
California to Oregon ; and the long struggle of the 
Nez Perces led by the ablest of modern Indian war- 
riors, Chief Joseph, were some of the last desperate 
efforts of the Indians to drive back the white man. 

To-day there are in our country, scattered over 
reservations of all sizes, some 200,000 Indians. 
As of old, they are still divided into many tribes, 
speaking different languages and living in vari- 
ous stages of civilization. Some, as the Sioux, 
live in wigwams and are brave, smart, and dan- 
gerous. Some, as the Cherokees, are well off, 
dwell in good houses, and dress much as we do. 
Others, as the Shoshonees, are ignorant, shiftless, 
and dirty, and wander about in bands like tramps. 
Others, as the Zuhi, make pottery, or as the Navajos, 
weave beautiful blankets. 

Most of the Indians, even the fiercest of them, are absolutely 
under the control of the reservation agents. Every Indian 
may, however, become a citizen, if he will leave his tribe and 
live as white men do. 



Recent 
Indian wars 




Zuni Indian 



228 



THE CLUSE UE THE CENTURY 



SUMMARY 

1. The discovery of gold near Pikes Peak in 1859 led to the founding of 

Denver and the settlement of Colorado. 

2. Communication with the East and the Pacific was provided at first by 

the pony express and the overland stage ; but these primitive means 
of transportation were replaced by a railroad finished in 18G9. 

3. In 187<Va second railway across the continent to join Lake Superior and 

the Pacific was begun ; and the Northwest was opened to settlement. 

4. The Indians, who for two hundred and fifty years had been steadily 

pushed westward, now tried again to withstand the white man, and a 
series of Indian wars and uprisings occurred in the Northwest. 

CHAPTER XXV 



THE CLOSE OF THE CENTURY 

The history of 
our country in the last 
quarter of the nine- 
teenth century was 
the familiar one of 
growth and prosper- 
ity. The building of 
the railways across 
the continent made a 
new West and a new 
Northwest. The buf- 
faloes that roamed 
over the plains by 
millions in 1870 were 
all but exterminated in 1880, and in their place came herds of 
cattle, sheep,. and horses. Grain farms, cattle ranches, mining 
towns, and prosperous villages covered the great plains once 




Western cattle ranch 



THE CLUSE OF THE CENTURY 



229 



thought little better than a desert, and seven more states 
(between 1889 and 1896) were admitted into the Union : North 
and South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, 



IMMIGRANTS 
1800,000 




The waves of immigration 

and Utah. Three of these, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, 
did not exist as geographical divisions in 1860, and their names 
are not to be found on the map of our country of that date. 

All this means that in the course of a century our country- Our 
men had spread over the continent from the Atlantic to the immi s rants 
Pacific. Hut they were not the only people who moved west- 
ward, for thousands on thousands had come to us from the 
Old World. Before 1820, not more than 10,000 immigrants 
came over each year, but thereafter for a long time more and 
more arrived nearly every year, till about 100,000 landed on 
our shores in the course of twelve months. Then the number 
fell off slightly. But in a little while famine in Ireland, and 
hard times in Germany, sent- over a great wave of immigration, 

MoM. PR. H. — 15 



230 THE CLOSE OF THE CENTURY 

swelling up year after year, till more than 400,000 foreigners 
came to us in one year. Then the wave spent itself, and the 
tide went down, only to turn into a second wave greater than 
before. By this time sailing vessels had given place to steam- 
ships. The voyage was ten days instead of twenty-four ; the 
cost was less ; the Northwest was growing ; our government 
was giving farms to men and women who would really live 
on them and cultivate them. Under the influence of these 
causes this wave of immigrants rolled toward us, till in 187o 
the number that came over was 460,000. The wave then went 
down, fewer people coming every year. But it socn rose again 
to 780,000 in 1882, after which it went down once more and 
then rose again. Since the year 1789 more than 20,000,000 
people had come to our country from the Old World. Most 
had come from Ireland, Germany, England, Norway and 
Sweden, and Italy. 

As the cost of travel across the ocean became lower and 
lower, the steamship companies sought emigrants to bring out, 
and the cities and countries of Europe began to send over beg- 
gars, paupers, and criminals. Laws have therefore been made 
to exclude such persons, and also the Chinese, who are consid- 
ered by the people of the Pacific coast as most undesirable im- 
migrants. 
People of the While the settlers in the Northwest are chiefly from the 
Northwest Eastern States, vast numbers of them are Germans, Swedes, 



" »•■■-■ 

Harvester 



THE CLOSE OE THE CENTURY 



231 



the East 




Modem newspaper printing press 



and Norwegians. In Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South 
Dakota, there are large stretches of country where almost every 
inhabitant is a Norwegian or a Swede. 

In the old states the changes of a quarter century were even changes in 
more marked. There, too, popula- 
tion had increased with astonish- 
ing rapidity, and cities which 
were small in 1870 grew to 
be great in 1900. New in- 
dustries had arisen, old 
ones had been immensely 
enlarged, and many occu- 
pations that were unknown 
when the Civil War ended 
gave employment to hundreds of thousands of men and women. 

A little more than four hundred years have now passed since Four periods 
Columbus landed on the shore of San Salvador. As we look 
back over these centuries the history of our country falls natu- 
rally into four periods. 

1. The first period, 1492-1600, was the age of discovery. Discovery and 
Explorers from Europe sailed along our coast, touching it here ex P loratlon 
and there, and so laying the foundation for claims to ownership 

by several European countries. Spain in this way obtained 
claims to Florida and all the Gulf coast, England to our Atlantic 
shore, and France to the river and gulf of St. Lawrence. Now 
and then some bold adventurer, as De Soto or Coronado, went 
into the interior and established for his country a claim to 
territory far from the seaboard. But when the period closed 
no settlements by Europeans existed within our bounds on the 
mainland, save at St. Augustine and Santa Fe\ 

2. The second period, 1600-1700, was that of occupation occupation 
and settlement. It was during these years that England planted settlement 



232 



THE CLOSE OE THE CENTURY 



The struggle 
for possession 



all her colonies on the Atlantic seaboard, save Georgia ; that 
the Dutch and Swedish settlements were made on the Hudson 
and the Delaware ; that France took possession of the St. 
Lawrence valley ; and that Marquette, Joliet, and La Salle 
explored the Mississippi. 

3. The third period, 1700-1800, is memorable for the long 
struggle for possession. Before 1700 the Dutch had conquered 
the Swedish colony, and the English had conquered the Dutch; 
but during the period 1700-1800 the English conquered the 




Colonies before the Revolution 



United States in 1783 



French, and acquired Florida from Spain, so that all of our 
country east of the Mississippi, save a little piece about New 
Orleans, came under the British Crown. The new colonial 
policy adopted by Great Britain after this expansion of terri- 
tory brought on the war between the colonies and the mother 
country, which ended with the overthrow of British rule and 
the establishment of the republic of the United States. 

Independence secured and a definite territory acquired, the 
struggle for a better government began. After a few years' 
trial, the old Articles of Confederation were abandoned, the 
Constitution was framed and adopted, and the century closed 
with our country fairly started on its marvelous career of 
prosperity. 



THE CLOSE OF THE CENTUKY 



233 



4. When the fourth and last period, 1800 to the present, Growth of 
opened, our country lay between the Atlantic Ocean on the east our country 
and the Mississippi on the west ; between Canada on the north 
and Florida (which had been given back to Spain) on the south : 
the states were but sixteen in number, and the entire popula- 
tion, men, women, and children, black and white, free and 
slave, was less than is now to be found in the state of Pennsyl- 
vania or of New York. But our country went on expanding 
in area ; the people went on increasing in number, and state 




United States in 1803 



United States in 1819 



after state was added to the Union. By the purchase of 
Louisiana from France in 1803 ; by the purchase of Florida 
from Spain in 1S19 ; by the acquisition of the Oregon country ; 
by the annexation of Texas in 1845 ; and by the cession from 
Mexico in 1848, our country spread steadily westward till by 
1850 it stretched across the continent from ocean to ocean (see 
the next map). There w r ere then thirty-one states in the 
Union, inhabited by twenty-three million people. The fron- 
tier, which in 1800 had just crossed the Appalachian Mountains, 
was in 1850 on the plains beyond the Mississippi. 

Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, St. Louis, which thirty years our country 
before were little frontier villages, were now towns of impor- in l85 ° 
tance. The older cities of the East had not only grown in size, 



234 



THE CLOSE OF THE CENTURY 



but had greatly changed in appearance. Omnibuses and street 
cars and gas were in use. The free common schools had 
become an American institution, and many inventions and dis- 
coveries had done much for the happiness, comfort, and pros- 
perity of the people. The steamboat was now on river, lake, and 
ocean, and joined the Old World with the New. The railroad 
pushing westward had almost reached Chicago, and the tele- 
graph was coming into general use. 

During the last half of the nineteenth century our area was 




United States in 1848 



United States in 1853 



still further expanded by the Gadsden purchase in 1853 (south- 
ern New Mexico and Arizona), by the purchase of Alaska from 
Russia in 1867, by the annexation of the Hawaiian Republic, and 
by the acquisition of Porto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, 
, n ur ^ untry and of a few other islands, so that in 1900 our flag floated over 

in 1900 ' o 

territory stretching halfway around the globe. Our states then 
numbered forty-five, and our people seventy-six million. We 
have become a great world power : we have tested and proved 
the possibility of what Mr. Lincoln grandly called government 
of the people, by the people, for the people. We have shown 
that it is possible for millions of people, living in a country of 
vast size, to grow rich and prosperous without the rule of king 
or emperor. 



THE CLOSE OF THE CENTUKY 



235 




The spread of our country's population 
(The dots xhow where the most people lived at each date) 



SUMMARY 

1. The history of our country falls naturally into four periods: 

a. Discovery and exploration of the new continent, 1492-1600. 

b. Colonization of Xorth America, 1600-1700. 

c. The long struggle for possession, ending with the establishment of 

the United States of America, 1700-1800. 

d. The expansion and the industrial and political development of our 

country, 1800 to the present. 



2m 



THE CLOSE Oh THE CENTUKY 



2. During the nineteenth century there were nine important acquisitions of 
territory, as follows: — 



1. Louisiana . 

2. Florida 

3. Texas 

4. Oregon country 



1803 
1819 
1845 
1846 



5. Mexican cession . 1848 

6. Gadsden Purchase . 1853 

7. Alaska . . . 1867 

8. Hawaii . . . 1898 



9. Porto Rico, Guam, the Philippines 



1899 




l'-'C F. 



180 Longitude West ISO from Orrcnwlch 60 



The United States and its possessions (shown by heavy shading) in 1900 

3. Six of these pieces of new territory were purchased; two were republics 

which we annexed with their consent. One was acquired by discovery, 
exploration, and settlement. The fifth and ninth acquisitions of terri- 
tory were the direct result of wars. The rest w r ere gained by peace- 
ful means. 

4. Between 1800 and 1900 our population rose from 5,000.000 to 76,000,000, 

and our states increased in number from sixteen to forty-five. During 
this period of our history 20,000,000 emigrants came to us from the 
Old World. 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 



237 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 




The Hawaiian 
Islands 



In - the last chapter mention was made 
of our annexation of the Hawaiian Islands 
and our acquisition of Porto ,^- 
Rico, Guam, and the Philippine 
Archipelago. Many years 
ago, when the natives of 
the Sandwich or Hawaiian 
Islands were heathen, mis- 
sionaries from our country , 
went out there and labored 
earnestly to convert the na- 
tives to Christianity and to 
civilize them. They suc- 
ceeded so well that numbers of 
white men came to the Hawaiian 
Islands for purposes of trade and 
commerce. In 1893, the descend- 
ants of these early settlers, with others that came later, were 
so dissatisfied with the government of the native queen that 
they deposed her, formed a republic, and asked to be joined to 
the United States. 

Mr. Cleveland, who became President shortly after this, 
was opposed to annexation, so nothing was done for five years, 
when (1898) Hawaii was formally joined to the United States. 
It has since (1900) been made a territory. 

Meantime a revolution of a dreadful sort was going on in Rebellion 
another island much nearer our coast. Early in 1895 the 
people of Cuba rebelled against Spain and founded a republic. 



Hawaiian scene 



238 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 



'"W "Ti^ "* - •««"«.«. 


KcjWe.t*- 4J* ^N. ' y 
Havana u "V v„ » • n *» 

pines ■ - — . .( ;>„. "" s 

. Santi^o dc Cuba C^fe^^H^SML 

« A T T 


100 200 300 


West Indies 





The Afa/ne 



A cruel and barbarous 
war followed, which 
deeply interested our 
countrymen for sev- 
eral reasons. Large 
sums of American 
money were invested 
in Cuban mines, rail- 
roads, and planta- 
tions ; we were forced to police our coasts to prevent the 
Cubans from carrying arms and military supplies from our 
country to the insurgents; our commerce with the island was 
almost ruined ; and we were shocked at the cruel way in which 
Spain carried on the war. 

For some years past our country had been trying to per- 
suade Spain to allow the Cubans to govern themselves ; but 
Spain would not consent to such a thing. In February, 1898, 
our battleship Maine, which was lying in the harbor of Havana, 
was blown up and sunk, with two hundred and sixty officers 
and men killed. Then all hope of a peaceful ending of our 
troubles with Spain ^ disappeared, and in April, 1898, Con- 
fess demanded that Spain should 
leave Cuba, and authorized the 
President to use force to make her 
|\j do so, if necessary. 
J^^pHHHJl^^^'^^&^PPI And now war began in earnest. 

One fleet, which had been gath- 
ering at Key West in Florida, 
went off under Admiral Samp- 
son to blockade the port of 
war with Havana. Another under Commodore Dewey sailed from 
Spain begins China to destroy the Spanish fleet in the Philippine Islands. 




The battleship Maine 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 



239 



*4 



This group of islands, many hun- 
dred in number, lies off the east coast 
of Asia. They were discovered 
by Magellan (1521) during the ^ 
first voyage that was ever 
made around the world. 
As Magellan's expedition 
was in the Spanish serv- . 
ice, Spain claimed the 
Philippines (which were 
so named from King 
Philip II. of Spain) and 
in 1898 she had owned 









The 
Philip- 
pines 




Scene in the Philippines 



these islands for more than three hundred and fifty years. 

In the harbor of Manila, on May 1, 1898, Dewey found the 
ships of the enemy. Passing the forts at the entrance, he 
entered the bay, destroyed the entire Spanish fleet of ten ships, 
winning a great victory, and blockaded Manila. General Mer- 
ritt, with twenty thousand soldiers, was then sent across the 
Pacific to take j possession of the Philippines. 

A second Spanish fleet, under 

Admiral Cervera, meantime had 

started for Cuba from the 



The battle 
of Manila 
Bay 




Blockade of 
Santiago 



other side of the Atlantic 
= Ocean, and after a time 
our ships found it in the 
harbor of Santiago de Cuba, 
a port on the south coast of 
the island. The entrance 
was by a long and narrow 
channel between high hills bristling with forts and batteries. 
To go in and attack the Spanish ships was impossible. But 



Dewey's flagship Olympia 



240 



THE EVENTS OF KECENT YEARS 



they must be kept there till troops should come over from 
Florida and capture the city. In order, therefore, to prevent 
the escape of Cervera, the harbor was closely blockaded by the 
fleets under Rear Admiral Sampson and Commodore Schley. 
Besides this, Lieutenant R. P. Hobson with a crew of seven 
men took a coal ship into the channel, blew holes in her sides, 
and sank her, amidst a rain of shot and shell. The gallant 
band were unhurt, but were taken prisoners and were after- 
wards exchanged. 

An army under General Shafter was now hurried from 
Florida to Cuba, and landed a few miles from Santiago. Seri- 




W. R. Hearst 



Wreck of the Spanish ship Oquendo 



ous fighting followed ; but the success of our troops made the 
capture of the city so certain that Admiral Cervera was ordered 
to break through our fleet and put to sea. On the morning of 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 



241 



Sunday, July 3, 1898, the attempt was accordingly made, for 
it was thought that on Sunday our officers would be less watch- 
ful. But Cervera found them fully prepared. A desperate 




Street in Porto Rico 

fight ensued, and in a few hours every one of the six ships of 
the enemy was either sunk or stranded or a burning wreck on 
the coast of Cuba. 

All hope of successful resistance to our army was now over, 
and July 14, General Toral surrendered Santiago and all the 
east end of Cuba. 

A week later General Miles set off with a small army to cap- 
ture the island of Porto Rico. He landed on the south coast, 



Porto Rico 



242 THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEAKS 

took Ponce, and was marching across the island toward San 
End oi the Juan, when at the request of Spain all fighting ceased, and a 
w " preliminary treaty of peace was signed at Washington. 

Spain promised to leave Cuba, and to surrender to us Porto 
Rico and one of the islands in the Ladrones. It was also agreed 
that we should hold the city and harbor of Manila till a perma- 
nent treaty of peace should dispose of the Philippines. 

News of peace was sent to Manila as fast as possible, but 
before it came, the city was attacked and captured by the 
army under General Merritt and the fleet under Admiral 
Dewey. 
Terms of According to the final treaty of peace, Spain withdrew from 
peace (] UDa . p rto Rico, and the island of Guam in the Ladrones, 
were delivered to us ; and the Philippines were sold to us for 
$20,000,000. While the treaty was under consideration, General 
Otis, who had succeeded General Merritt, occupied Manila ; 
but the natives under Aguinaldo held the rest of the island 
of Luzon, on which the city is situated. 

Aguinaldo considered himself an ally of the United States, 
and now that Spanish rule was at an end, insisted that we 
should leave the Philippines to the Filipinos. This we refused 
to do, whereupon,, on the night of February 4, 1899, Aguinaldo 
attacked our troops in Manila and brought on an insurrection 
against our authority that has with difficulty been put down. 

And now we became involved in strife with China. There 
is in that country a popular society called The Boxers, whose 
motto is. "Kill all Foreigners." Early in 1900, the Boxers, 
feeling sure that the Chinese Empress was in sympathy with 
them, rose and began the work of destruction. Native Chris- 
tians were massacred ; missionaries were killed, mission stations 
were burned ; railways were torn up ; and even at Pekin, the 
capital of China, all foreigners were forced to take refuge 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 



243 







Copyright, laOl, by J. C. Hemmtnt 



Legation Street, Pekin 



under the roofs of the ministers who represented their respec- 
tive countries. 

It now became necessary to rescue these people, who were 
besieged by Boxers and Chinese troops ; and as quickly as 
possible an allied army of British, Germans, French, Russians, 
Japanese, and Americans was gathered in China, and marched 
against the cities of Tientsin and Pekin. Both were captured 
and most of the Europeans were saved. 

In 1900 President McKinley was reelected ; but while hold- McKinley 
ing a public reception at the Pan-American Exposition in murdered 
the city of Buffalo, he was shot twice by a young man who 
had approached as if to shake hands. After lingering for a 
week Mr. McKinley died early in the morning of September 
14, 1901, and the Vice President, Mr. Theodore Koosevelt, 
became President. 



iMl 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 



The Pan- 
ama Canal 



To President Roosevelt fell the duty of arranging for a 

ship canal to be dug by the United States across the Isthmus 

of Panama. The countn that owned the isthmus rejected 
a treaty which had been drawn up for this purpose; but the 
people of the isthmus seceded and set up a new republic, with 
which a treaty was quickly made. A canal partly dug by a 
French company was sold to the United States, and the work 
of completing it was begun in 1904. 

Ten years later the great work was finished and the canal 
opened to the trade of the world. By means of this canal, the 




Ocean steamer at a lock in the Panama Canal 



The United 
States in 
1918 



voyage of a vessel going from New York to San Francisco is 
shortened by 8000 miles; from New York to Hawaii or Manila 
the voyage is lessened 5800 miles. 

The population of the Tinted States and Alaska in 1910 was 
92,000,000; that of our island territories and dependencies, 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 245 

about 10,000,000 more. Oklahoma was admitted to the Union 
in 1907, and therefore the number of states in 1910 was forty- 
six ; but in 1912 New Mexico and Arizona were made states, 
and the number is now forty-eight. Thus our country, from 
Canada to Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is composed 
entirely of states. In fifteen of them and in the territory of 
Alaska women have the same right to vote as do men. In sev- 
eral others they may vote for electors of the President and for 
some other officials. 

In 191(3 we came very near a war with Mexico. Since 1911 war in 
that country had been in a state of disorder. One Mexican Mexico 
president after another was set up and pulled down. At last a 
Mexican general, Carranza, was recognized by our President as 
having set up a government that could be dealt with. This 
angered Villa, a rival general, and bands of his men several 
times invaded our country and killed some Americans. Presi- 
dent Wilson sent troops into Mexico to catch him. Carranza 
said he would attack them if they went any further. President 
Wilson then sent more soldiers to the Mexican border, and a 
war seemed near. But neither Carranza nor Wilson wanted 
war. The American troops stayed near the border, while 
Carranza's army fought Villa. Early in 1917 most of the 
troops were brought back. 

After the opening of the Panama Canal, good harbors in the st. Thomas 
West Indies were more important than before. One such har- 
bor was that of St. Thomas, an island owned by Denmark, near 
Porto Rico. To secure this, the United States in 1910 pur- 
chased from Denmark all her possessions in the West Indies, 
consisting of three of the Virgin Islands, for -125,000,000. 

In the summer of 1914 war broke out in Europe, and spread war in 
from nation to nation till fourteen were in arms, after two and Europe 
a half years. During that time our country was neutral, that 



240 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEA Its 



The 
Ltisitania 



is, it took no part in the war. But we were soon in trouble. 
German submarines and other war vessels sank some of our 
merchant ships, and British and Dutch vessels on which our 
citizens were traveling - . When the British merchant ship Lusi- 
tania was sunk without warning, more than a thousand of the 
passengers and crew were drowned, including 114 American 
men. women, and children. The President protested strongly 
against such inhuman and unlawful sinkings, and at last Ger- 
many promised not to sink unarmed vessels without warning 
unless they tried to escape. Warning meant that all on board 
would have a short time to take to the lifeboats. 




German submarine about to siuk au ocean steamer 



This promise was made in May, 1 ( .>1<>, but in January, 1917, 
Germany withdrew her pledge. After February 1, she said, 
any neutral or enemy vessel found within certain parts of the 
sea would be sunk by submarines without warning. In this 
way Germany intended to stop all trade with Great Britain and 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 



247 



with 
Germany 



France. She did not have enough war ships for a lawful block- 
ade of those countries, like the British blockade of Germany, 
so she depended on unlawful sinkings and threats of fright- 
fulness. 

Because of this, the President dismissed the German ambassa- our war 
dor and recalled our ambassador at Berlin. Also, because the 
war in general was chiefly a war by Germany against democ- 
racies, and a German victory would put our own country in 
grave peril, the President asked Congress to declare that a state 
of war existed between the United States and Germany. Con- 
gress did so and on April 6, 1917, the President issued his proc- 
lamation. The President cannot declare that war, 
or a state of war, exists until Congress gives him 
authority. 

Our navy was ready at once to help in the war. 
That the country might not have to depend entirely 
on volunteers for an army, Congress passed laws re- 
quiring all men from 18 to 45 years of age to enroll 
for military service. In all some 23,000,000 were 
enrolled. Not every one was expected to fight; 
but each was required to be ready if needed to do 
something to help win the war. 

, Germany did not think our troops would be of 
much help. She expected it would take a long time 
to make our boys good soldiers and that her sub- 
marines would prevent our sending a great army to 
France. Indeed, during the spring and summer of 
1918 German submarines came to our coast and sank un- 
armed vessels. But they did not frighten us, nor stop the 
sailing of our troops, and by October, 1918, about 2,000,000 
men had been landed in France. To finish the training, as 
quickly as possible, of the first troops sent to France, some 




American soldier 
wearing gas mask 



248 



TIIK EVENTS <>!•' BECEKT YEARS 



The war 
in 1918 



were scattered among the French and British, and fought be- 
side these veteran troops. The rest were trained hack of the 
battle front. But in March, 1918, the Germans began a vio- 
lent attack on the Allies and day by day drove them hack. 
Everything was at once done to hurry more troops to France, 
and Genera] Pershing offered all those in France to General 
Foch ( t'osh ) to use as he would. The offer was accepted, and 
thenceforth our men took an important part in the fighting, 
in May they drove the Germans out of Cantigny (kahn-teen- 
yee). A little further down the line the Germans were niak- 




BattU Uae ol July 18 1918 



The battle front in France at the end of the last German advance 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 249 

ing a great salient, or bulge, pointing towards Paris. Thither, 
in May, some of our troops were hurried, and by splendid fight- 
ing helped the French to stop the oncoming Germans at Cha- 
teau-Thierry (sha-to-tya-ree) . 

July 18, General Foch, who commanded all the Allied 
armies in France and Belgium, attacked the Germans along 
this bulge from Soissons to Reims, and in the course of three 
weeks made them retreat as far as the Vesle (val) River. In 
this fighting our men took part with the French and captured 
Chateau-Thierry and many other towns. 

Until this time the American troops had fought with the American 
French and British. But in August, 1918, many of them were vict0ries 
brought together and formed into the First American Army 
with General Pershing in command. When all was ready, it 
was sent to attack another bulge in the line at St. Mihiel. The 
attack was made in September. In two days our army de- 
stroj^ed the salient and captured 15,000 prisoners. 

The army was then moved to the battlefront west of the 
Meuse River. The work given it to do was to force the enemy 
northward, and cut the railroad over which went a large part 
of the supplies for the German armies. Late in September the 
attack opened, and what is known as the Argonne-Meuse 
battle, the greatest in our history, began. During six weeks 
the fighting went on almost day and night. The enemy fought 
stubbornly, but were steadily forced back until by November 7 
our army had reached Sedan. 

The situation of Germany was now desperate. Bulgaria, 
Turkey, and Austria, her three allies, had surrendered. In 
France and Belgium, ever since July 18, the British, French, 
and Belgians, as well as the Americans, had been driving her 
armies back. A revolution had broken out at home, and Ger- 
many, in turn, was forced to ask for peace. She sent delegates 



250 



THE EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS 



to General Foch to receive the terms on which the Allies would 
stop fighting. They were soon arranged, and on the morning 
of November 11, 1918, the Last shots were tired. The Emperor, 
and the Crown Prince, of Germany had already tied to Holland. 




American parade in Paris, July 4, 1918 

The Allied armies now marched into Germany and took 
positions on the east hank of the Rhine river. Early in 1919 a 
great peace conference of delegates from many nations met ;it 
Paris, and drew up a treaty which Germany signed on the 
28th of -I line. At the head of our delegates was President 
Wilson. 

Lincoln our presidents have been : 



Since the death of I. 



Andrew Johnson . 
Ulysses S. Grant . 
Kill herford B. Hayes 
James A. ( rarneld 
Chester A. Arthur 
Grover Cleveland . 



1865- L869 
L869 1*77 
1877-1881 
1881 

1881-1885 
1885 1889 



Benjamin Elarrison 
Grover Cleveland . 
William McKinley 
Theodore Roosevelt 
William II. Taft . 
Woodrcw Wilson . 



L889 L893 
L 893-1897 
1897-1901 

11101 l!)(l!l 

1909 mi;; 

1913- 



INDEX 



Key to Pronunciation. — Vowels : a in late, a in fat, a in care, a in far, a in last, a in fall, a in 
was, an in author ; e in me, e in met, g in veil, e in term ; I in fine, i in tin, i in police ; o in note, 
6 in not, 6 in son, 6 in for, o in do ; ii in tune, u in nut, u in rude, u in full ; y in ray, y in hymn. 
Consonants: c in cent, e in can; g in gem, g in get; n=ny in barnyard, ij = ng, N = ng but is 
silent ; qu = k\v ; § = z ; th in this. Italic letters are silent. 



PAGE 

Ab-o-li'tion-ists 176, 177 

A 'bra-ham, Plains of 105, 106 

A-cii'di-a, taken by English 97 

A'co-ma 28 

Ad'ams, John, President 152, 177 

signs Declaration of Independence . . . 127 

signs treaty of Paris 142 

Adams, John Quincy, President 177 

Adams, Samuel 116,117,121 

A-dd'be, houses of 22 

■X-gwi-nal'do 242 

Al-a-bii'ma, admitted to Union 170 

Creek war in 159 

joins Confederacy 193 

Alabama, cruise of 208, 209 

claims settled 209 

A-laVka 234, 236 

Al'ba-ny, founded 73 

becomes English 76 

Al'be-marU Sound 83, 206 

A17e-g#g-ny valley, French and British 

claims 100-102 

Al-ta-ma-ha' River 88 

A-mg-ri'go Ves-puc'ci (poot'chee), America 

named for 14 

An'der-son, Major Robert, at Fort Sum- 
ter 193-195 

An'drg, Major John, story of 141 

An 'dros, Sir Edmund 91,92 

An-nap'o-lis, Maryland 55 

Annapolis, Nova Scotia . 97, 99 

An-tie'tam, battle of 200 

An-ti-slav'er-y agitation 177 

Ap-pa-la'chi-an Mountains 17,103 

Ap-po-mat'tox Court House, Lee surrenders 

at 205 

" Ar'go-nauts " <>f California 185 



PAGE 

Ar-i-zo'na, Indians in 22 

Ar'kan-sas, admitted to Union . . . 178, 220 

joins Confederacy 196 

Arkansas River, discovered 38 

Ar'nold, Ben'e-dict, bravery of 140 

turns traitor 141 

Ar'thur, Chester A., President 244 

Ar'ti-cles of Confederation 150 

As'tor, John Jacob 179 

As-to'ri-a, founded 179 

Atch'i-son, founded 191 

At-lan'ta, Sherman's march from . . 203, 204 

Au-giis'ta, Georgia, founded 89 

A-zoreg' Islands, Alabama at 208 



Back 'woods men 108, 137 

Ba-hu'mag, discovery of 11 

pirates in 86 

Bal'ti-more, attacked by British 157 

founded 55 

Baltimore, Lord, proprietor of Maryland . . 54 

Bar'ba-dos Island 83 

Biir-ce-lo'na . 14 

Bat'on Rouge (roozh), captured by Span- 

' iards 144 

" Battle above the Clouds " 202 

Bean, William 134 

Beau're-gard (bo'-), General, at Fort Sum- 
ter 195 

Ben 'ton, Fort, trading at 224 

Berkeley, Lord, proprietor of New Jersey . 77 

Ber-mu'da, Virginia 50 

Bienville (be-aN-veel'), at New Orleans . . 98 

Bil-ox'i, settlement at 41 

Bi'son, or butfalo 18, 26, 29 

extermination of 228 

Black Hawk, Indian chief 226 



INDEX 



Black Kettle, Indian chief 227 

Blockade, of Cuban ports 238, 240 

of Southern ports 206, 207 

Blockhouses in New England 65 

Bon 'net, Stede, pirate 87 

Boon«, Daniel, in Kentucky 184 

Boonfs'bor-o, founded 134 

Booth, John Wilkes, murders Lincoln . . 216 

Bos' ton, British in 120, 126 

founded 60 

port closed 119 

tea ships at 116-118 

Boston Tea Party 118 

Boundary line 232-234 

northeastern 179 

northwestern 180 

southern 163 

southwestern 166, 234 

BoM-quet (-k;V), Colonel Henry 109 

Box'ers, of China 242,348 

Brad'dock's expedition H'4, 105 

Brad'ford, William, of Plymouth ... 58, 60 
Bragg, General, at Cliickamaiiga .... 202 

Bran'dy-wine, battle of 130 

Breck'in-ridge, John C 198 

Breeds Hill, Presoott at 124 

British. See Great Britain and En aland. 

Brj-n Mater* 80 

Buc-ca-neers/, in the Carolinas .... 84-87 

BueA-an'an, James, President 193 

Buffalo 18, 26, 29, 224 

extermination of 228 

Bull Run, first battle 197 

second battle 200 

Bun 'ker Hill, battle of 124,125 

Bur-goynV, General, surrender of ... . 130 
Burn 'side, General, commander of Army of 

Potomac 200, 201 

Bush'y Bun, battle of 109 

CYih'ot, voyages of 44 

Ca-ho'ki-a, taken by Clark 137 

Cfil-hown', John C, advocates secession . . 187 
Cal-i-f6r'ni-a, admitted to Union . . . 186, 1S7 

conquest of 181 

gold discovered in 183-186 

Can 'a-da, ceded to Great Britain . . . .106 

French settlers in 35, 86 

Ca-na'ry Islands, Columbus at 9 

Cape Bret'on 99 

Ciir'a-velj seized for Columbus 9 

Car-ib-be'an Islands, discovered 14 

Caroli'na, colony of 83-87, 89 

Ca-ron'de-'fl* 87 



Car'pen-ters' Hall, first Continental Con- 
gress at 119 

Car'ter-et, Sir George, proprietor of New 

Jersey 77 

Car-tier' (-tyii'), explorations of .... 31-33 

Casket girls 98, 99 

CSr-vfi'rfi (ther-), Admiral, at Santiago 239-241 

rham-plfun', and the Iroquois 33 

founds Quebec 34 

Champlain, Lake, battle of 156 

Chan'cel-lorj-ville, battle of 201 

Cha-pul-tg-pec', battle of 181 

Charl^j'ton, blockade running at .... 207 

British attack 138 

founded 83 

pirates in 85, 86 

taken by British 138-140 

tea ships at 116, 118 

Char'ter Oak 91 

Charters, colonial 90, 91 

Chat-ta-noo'ga, siege of ■ 202 

Chaw-tau'qua Lake 100 

Cher'bourg, battle of Kearsarge and Ala- 
bama near 209 

Chei-o-kee' Indians ..." 227 

Ches'a-peake, British fire upon 154 

captured 157 

Chesapeake Bay 45 

Chick-a-mau'ga, battle of 202 

Chi'na, disorder in 242, 248 

Chi-ru-se', exclusion of 280 

Cin-cin-na'ti, founded ........ 225 

Ci-pan'go 11 

Civil War 193-218 

causes of 190-193 

cost of 214 

results of 215 

Clark, George Rogers, conquests of . 137, 188 

Clark, William, explorations of 165 

Clay, Henry, effects Compromise of 1850 . . 187 

effects Missouri Compromise 176 

C/er-mdnt', first successful steamboat . . 172 
Cleveland, Grover, President . . . 237, 244 
Clin 'ton, General, at Monmouth .... 188 

Col'o-nies, the thirteen 89-91 

become states 126 

Col-o-rii'dS, admitted to Union 223 

gold discovered in 220 

Co-lum'bi-a, District of 150, 152 

Columbia River, discovered 165 

Co-liim'bus, Christopher 8-14 

Com'pro-mls«, Missouri, adopted .... 176 

repealed 198 

Compromise of 1850 187, 190 



INDEX 



111 



PAGE 

C6nc'6rd, battle of 122, 123 

Ciin-es-tcVga wagon 162 

Con-fed'er-a-cy 193 

See Civil War. 
Confederate states, reconstruction of . 216, 217 

Con fed-er-a'tion, Articles of 150 

Cim'gress, Continental. See Continental 
Congress. 

Congress, destroyed 210, 211 

Congress, Stami> Act 115 

Congress of the United States 14S 

Con-nect'i-cut, colony of . . . 61, 62, 91, 92 

gives "back lands" to Congress .... 145 

Con-sti-tu'tion of United States . . . 148-150 

Constitutional Convention 14S 

Con-ti-nen'tal Army, formed 123 

Continental Congress 119,123 

adopts Declaration of Independence . 126,127 

adopts national flag 130 

" back lands " given to 145 

powers of 146-148, 150 

Corn-wal'lis, General, invades Virginia 141, 142 

surrenders 142 

C6-ro-na'do (fho), explorations of . . 28, 231 

Cotton gin invented 175 

Cotton industry in South 174, 175 

Cou-reUTs' de bois (deh bwa'), in Canada . . 36 

Crazy Horse, Indian chief 227 

Creek Indians, trade with 8S 

war of 159 

Cu'ba, discovered 11, 24 

rebellion in 237, 238 

Spanish-American War in . . 238, 239, 241 

Cul'pep-er Court House 52 

Cuiii'ber-huul, Meirimac destroys . . . 210 
Cus'ter, General, death of 227 

Da'vis, Jefferson, President of Confederacy . 193 

taken prisoner 205 

Dec-la-ra'tion of Independence . . . 126,127 

Deer'field, massacre at 95, 96 

De Kalb', in Revolutionary War . . 132, 139 

Del 'a-ware, settlement of 75,79 

Den'ver, settled 221 

Dg So'to, in the Southeast 29, 231 

Detroit', fort at 36 

Dew'ey, Admiral, in battle of Manila . . . 239 

sails to Philippines 238 

takes Manila 242 

Din-widV/ie, Governor 102, 103 

District of Columbia, formed .... 150, 152 

Don'el-son, Fort, taken 197 

Doug 'las, Stephen A 190-193 

Do'ver, massacre at 93 



PAGE 

Du-luth', founded 223 

Du-pont', captures Port Royal 213 

Duquesne (doo-kan'), Fort 104,105 

Dus'tan, Hannah, captivity of 95 

Dutch settlers in New Netherland .... 74 
Dutch West India Company 73, 74 

East India Company, sends tea to Amer- 
ica 116, 118 

Ells' worth, Chief Justice, at Constitutional 

Convention 148 

E-man-ci-pa'tion Proclamation . . . 217, 218 

Em-bar go, the long 155, 156 

England, claims part of America 44 

colonies of 45-72, 76-92 

wars with France in America .... 92-107 
wars with Holland in New Netherland . . 76 
See also Great Britain. 

English settlers, in the Carolinas 83 

in Georgia 88 

in Maryland 55 

in New England 56-72, 75 

in Pennsylvania 78-80 

in Virginia 45-54 

Er'ics-son, Captain John, designs Monitor . 210 

E'rie Canal, built 171 

Erie, Lake, battle of 156 

Fair'fax, Lord, and Washington 102 

Far'ra-gut, Flag Officer, captures New Or- 
leans 199, 213 

in battle of Mobile Bay 213 

Fil-i-p'i'no|, insurrection of 242 

Fill'mor^, Millard, President 193 

Flag, national, making of 130 

Flor'i-da, admitted to Union 178 

British province 107, 111 

discovered 24 

joins Confederacy 193 

Narvaez in 25 

purchased by United States 166 

Spain regains 144, 145 

Foote, Flag Officer, takes Fort Henry . 198, 213 
Ford's Theater, Lincoln murdered in . . . 216 

Fort Am'ster-dam, built 73 

Fort Don'el-son, taken 198 

Fort Duquesne (doo-kan') 104,105 

Fort Good Hope, built 73 

Fort Hen'ry, Tennessee, taken . . . 198, 213 
Fort Henry, Virginia, Indians attack . . . 136 

Fort Leav'en-worth 181 

Fort Le Boewf, built 101 

Fort Mar"i-on, old tower of 110 

Fort Minis, massacre at 159 



IV 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Fori Hgitl'trie, Anderson leaves 194 

British attack 188 

Fort Nas'sau, rmilt 73 

Fort Ne-ces'si-ty, Washington builds . . . 104 

Fort Nl-ag'a-ra, relict' scut to 108 

Fort Or'ange, built at Albany . ... . . 73, 70 

Fort l'itt In.") 

in Pontiac's War los, iim 

Fort S!. Loti'ig, built 40, 41 

Fort Bum'ter 198-195 

Forts, frontier 184, 185 

France, gives Louisiana to Spain .... 107 

helps United states 132, 188, 142 

interferes with American trade .... 155 
loses American possessions . . . 106, 107 

naval war with United States 158 

regains Louisiana, and sells it to United 

Slates 164 

wars with England 92-107 

Frank'lin, Benjamin 111-118 

at Constitutional Convention 148 

helps frame Declaration of Independence 1-7 

in France 182 

opposes Stamp Act 112,113 

signs treaty of Paris 142 

Fred 'er-icks-burg, battle of 201 

Fremont', Captain, in California . . . . 1M 

French, hatred' of Iroquois for 34 

in America 81-43, 92 107 

in Mississippi valley .... 87-41,93,99 

in Ohio valley 100, 101, 108 

missionaries 34 

New Orleans founded by 9s 

on the Great Lakes 37 

settle In Canada 85, 36 

French and English Wars 92-107 

French and Indian War 108-107 

Friends, or Quakers 78, 77 

Fron'tier forts 134, 185 

Frontier bouses 166, 168 

Fid ton, Robert, and the steamboat . . . 172 

Fur trade, in Canada 85,30 

in New Netherland 73 

Gilds 'den Purchase 234 

Gage, General 120. 121. 123 

Gar'fleld, James A., President 244 

Gar'ri-son, William Lloyd, opposes slavery 177 
Garrison houses, in New England .... 05 
Gates, General, at Saratoga 180 

in Smith Carolina 189 

Gedr'gl-a, founded 88, 89 

gives " back lands " to Congress .... 140 
joins Confederacy 193 



PAGE 

(ler'man settlers 230 

in Carolina iind Pennsylvania . . . .81,83 

in Georgia 89 

Ger'man-town, battle of 180 

founded 80 

Germany, war with 240 

Ger'rish, Sarah, captivity of 94 

Ger'ry, Elbridge 148 

Get' tys-burg, battle of 201 

GAent, treaty of 160 

Gil'bert, Humphrey, death of 44 

Glad'wyne 80 

Glouces'ter, Fort Nassau built at .... 73 

Gold, in California 188-186,220 

in Colorado 220 

in Montana 224. 227 

G6r'ge§, Fer-di-nan'do, proprietor of Maine 03 

Grant, U-lys'se§ S 197, 198 

campaign against Richmond 2<>4 

Lee surrenders to 20S 

Lieutenant General 203 

President 219, 244 

takes Fort Donelson 198 

takes Vicksburg 202 

Grasse, Count de, at Yorktown 142 

Gray, Captain, discovers Columbia River, 165, 179 
Great Brit'ain, assigns land to Indiana . . Ill 

Boston Port Bill 119 

boundary disputes with 179. lso 

helps Confederacy 207-209 

impresses American sailors .... 154, 105 
in French and Indian War .... 108 107 

in War of Independence 120-142 

in War of 1812 156-160 

interferes with American trade .... 100 
pays Civil War damages 209 

Stamp Act 111-118, 115 

surrenders frontier forts 163 

treaties with 142, 100 

Cireenc, Ceneral, at Valley Forge .... 181 

in Georgia and South Carolina 141 

Guam 234, 286, 242 

" Hail, Columbia," written 152,158 

Ila/'ti, Columbus at 12 

Hale. Nathan 12s 

Half faced camps 166 

Half-Moon, Hudson's shi] 72 

llam'il-ton. Alexander, at Constitutional 

Convention 148 

at Valley Forge 131 

Hamp'ton Roads, naval battles on . . 210-212 

llan' k. John, at Lexington 121 

Qar'mar, General, in Indian war .... 225 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Har'ri-son, Benjamin, President 244 

Harrison, William II., at Tippecanoe . . . 226 

in battle of Thames River 156 

President 1T7 

Har'rod, James 134 

Har'rods-burg 134 

Hart'ford, Dutch at 73 

English found 61 

Ha-van'a, blockaded 238 

captured by British 107 

Hii'ver-Aill, massacres at 94, 95 

Hii-win'ian Islands 204, 236, 237 

Hay<*§, Rufh'er-ford B., President .... 244 

Hel'e-na, founded 224 

Hen-ri'cus, town of ... . .... 50 

Hen'ry, Fort, Tennessee, taken . . . 193, 213 
Henry, Fort, Virginia, Indians attack . . . 136 
Henry, Patrick, Governor of Virginia . . . 137 

opposes Stamp Act 113, 114 

His-pan-io'la (-yo'-), discovered 12 

Hob'son, Lieutenant It. P 240 

Hol'land, founds colony in America . . 72-75 

Pilgrims sail from 56 

wars with England 70 

Hon-du'ras, Columbus discovers .... 14 
Hook'er, General, commander Army of Po- 
tomac 201 

Hooker, Thomas, founds Hartford .... 01 
House of Rep-re-sent'a-tives ... . . 149 
Howtf, General, leaves Boston 126 

takes New York 127 

Hud'son, Henry, voyage of 72, 73 

Hudson River, discovered 73 

Hu'gue-nots, settle in Carolina 83 

Hii'ron, Lake 34 

I da-ho, admitted to Union 229 

Il-li-nois', admitted to Union 170 

Indian war in 226 

Im 'mi-grants from Old World . . . 229, 230 
Im-press'ment of American sailors . . 154, 155 

ln-dent'ed servants, in Virginia 49 

In-de-pend'ence, Declaration ot . . . Uii, 127 

Independence, Missouri 185 

In-di-an'a, admitted to Union 170 

Indian reservations 227 

Indian Territory 226 

Indian wars 224-227 

in Alabama (Creek War) 159 

in Kentucky and Tennessee . . . 135-138 

in New England 61-03, 93-97 

Pontiac's War 107-109 

In'di-anj 16-23, 27, 224-227 

and Pilgrims 59 



PAGE 

Indians, and William Penn ...... 79 

Great Britain assigns land to Ill 

sold into slavery 93 

villages of is, 22, 32 

In'die§, West, named 14 

I'o-wa, admitted to Union ISO, 220 

Irish settlers 81, 230 

Ironclads, first battle of . ..... 210-212 

Ir-o-quois' 21 

defeated on Lake Champlain .... 33, 34 

hatred of, for French 34 

Is-a-bel'la, Queen, helps Columbus .... 8 
I-tal'ian settlers 230 

Jack'son, Andrew 158-160 

at battle of New Orleans 160 

in Indian W T ars 226 

President 177, 226 

Ja-miu'ca, discovered 13 

James'town, settlement of . . . 45,47,48,52 

Jas'per, William 138, 139 

Jay, John, signs treaty of Paris 142 

Jay'hawk-ers, in Kansas 191 

Jef'fer-son, Thomas, President . 155, 164, 177 

writes Declaration of Independence . . . 127 

John'son, Andrew, President . . . . '210,244 

impeachment of 217 

John'ston, Joseph E., at Richmond . . . 200 

in Georgia 203 

surrenders to Sherman 205 

J oliet (zho-le-a'), explorations of . . . . 37-39 
Jo'seph, Indian chief 227 

Kan'sas, admitted to Union 223 

civil war in 191 

slavery question in 190, 191 

Spaniards in 29 

territory of 190 

Kas-kas'ki-a, taken by Clark 137 

Kear'ny, General, in Mexican War . . 180, lsl 
Kearmirge, (ker'sarj), sinks Alabama . . 209 

Ken-tuck 'y, admitted to Union 162 

emigration to 101, 162 

frontier life in 135-133 

settled 134 

Key, Francis Scott 157, 158 

Kings Mountain, battle of 141 

A'nox, General, at Valley Forge 131 

Kos-ei-us'ko, in Revolutionary War . . . 132 

La-dron/?s/ 242 

La-fa-yettfe', at Mount Vernon 143 

in Revolutionary War 132 

Lake (.'uam-plaUi', battle of 156 



VI 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Lake E'ri«, battle of 156 

La SiiliV, explorations of ... . 37, 39-41 

in Texas 41 

Lau'rens, John, in Revolutionary War . . 131 
Lead plates, French claim territory with 100, 101 

Leav'en-worth 181, 221 

Le-comy/ton, founded 191 

Lee, Robert E 200, 199 

at Gettysburg 201 

surrenders to Grant 204 

Lee, R. H., in Continental Congress . . . 126 
Lc</n'ard-son, Samuel, captivity of . . . .95 

LSop'ard, tires on Chesapeake 154 

Lew'is, Mer'i-weth-er, explorations of . . 105 
Lewis and Clark, expedition of . . . 105, 179 

Lex'ing-ton, battle of 1"J'2, 128 

Liberty Party, organized 177 

Lin'eo/n, Abraham 167, 168 

calls for army . . . 196, 218 

debate with Douglas 191, 192 

elected President 198 

Emancipation Proclamation 217 

inaugurated 194 

murdered 216 

reelected 216 

Lincoln, General, at Savannah 189 

Liv'er-pool, blockade running business at . 207 
Liv'ing-ston, Robert, helps frame Declara- 
tion of Independence 127 

Lo'co-mo-tives, steam 172 

L6n'don Company, controls Virginia . . 45, 54 

Look 'out Mountain, battle of 202 

Loii'is-bunc', built and taken 99 

taken again 105 

Lou-i-si-a' na, admitted to Union .... 17o 

claimed by France 40 

ceded to Spain 107 

ceded to France 104 

joins Confederacy 193 

purchased by United States 104 

Lu-zon', insurrection in 242 

McClel'lan, General, at Antietam .... 200 
commander of Army of Potomac .... 197 

in Peninsular campaign 199 

MeDon'owpA, in battle of Lake Cham plain . 156 

Mack 'i-nac, Strait of 36 

McKin'ley, William, President . . . 243,244 
Macomb', General, at Plattsburg .... 156 
Mad'1-son, .lames, President .... 156, 177 
Ma-gel'lan, discovers Philippines .... 239 

Mail service, in far West 221-223 

Maine, admitted to Union 175, 176 

border wars in 97 



PAGE 

Maine, bought by Massachusetts .... 63 

boundary dispute 179 

Maine, destruction of 238 

Man-hut'tan Island, purchased 73 

Ma-nil'a, battle of 239 

surrenders 242 

Mar' cos, explorations of .-7, 28 

Ma-ri-eVta, settled 225 

Mar'i'-on, in Revolutionary War 139 

Marquette (mar-keV), Father, explorations 

of 37-39 

Mar'shall, discovers gold Ib3, 1S4 

Mar'thas Vine 'yard 77 

Ma'ry-land (mcr'-) 54, 55, 108 

M&'son, John, proprietor of New Hampshire 63 
Mas-sa-chu'sctts, charter troubles . . . 90, 92 

English colony 50-00 

gives " back lands " to Congress .... 145 

opposes Stamp Act 115 

prepares for war 120 

Mas'sa-soit, Indian chief 59, 60 

May'fiow-er, voyage of 57, 58 

Meade, General, at Gettysburg 201 

Mem 'phis, surrendered 1U3 

Mer'i-on 80 

Mn'ri-nuic 209, 210 

battle with Monitor 210 21! 

destroyed by Confederates . . . . •. . 212 
Mer'ritt, General, at Manila .... 239, 242 

Mex'i-can War 180,181 

Mieh'i-gan, admitted to Union 17S 

Mileg, General, captures Porto Rico . 241, 242 
Min-ne-so'ta, admitted to Union .... 223 

Mis'sion-a-ry Ridge, battle of 203 

Mls-BiS-sip'p], admitted to Union .... 170 

joins Confederacy 193 

Mississippi River, discovered .... 25, 87, 88 

life and trade on 170 

Missouri, admitted to Union . . . 170, 176 

dispute over admission of 175 

Missouri Compromise, adopted 176 

repealed 190 

Missouri River, explorers on 165 

Mo-bile', founded 41 

Mobile Bay, battle of 213 

French at 41, 98 

Mo'doc War 227 

Mon 'i'tor, battle with Merrimac . . 210 212 

lost at sea 212 

Mon 'mouth, battle of 133 

Monroe', James, President 177 

Mon-ta'na, admitted to Union 229 

gold in 224, 227 

Mont-calm.' Genera) 106 



INDEX 



VII 



PAGE 

Mon-ti-cel'lo, Jefferson's home 154 

Mont-re-al', Cartier at site of 32 

fur trade at 36 

taken by British 106 

Mor'inons, in Utah 188, 189 

Mor'ris, Robert, at Constitutional Conven- 
tion 148 

Mor'ris-town, Washington at 129 

Mor'ro Castle 145 

MoMZ'trie, Colonel, at Charleston .... 138 

Moultrie, Fort 138, 193, 194 

Mount Ver'non, Washington's home . . . 152 

Nar'berth 80 

Nar-vii'ez (-eth), seeks for gold . . . .25,26 

Nash'ville, battle of 203 

Nas'sau, blockade runners at 207 

Natch 'ez, taken by Spaniards 144 

Na'va-jos (-hoz) 227 

Ne-bnls'ka, admitted to Union 223 

territory of 190 

Neff, Mary, captivity of 95 

Ne'groeg, after emancipation .... 218, 219 

See also Slavery. 
Neth'er-lands. See Holland. 

Ne-va'da, admitted to Union 223 

New England colonies, founded .... 56-64 

life in 64-72 

struggle with the King 90-92 

New 'found-land fisheries 31 

New Hamp'shire, settled 63 

New Ha'ven, founded 61 

New Jer'gey, English colony 77 

New Mex'i-co, old settlements in .... 188 

pueblos of 22 

territory formed 188 

New Nefh'er-land, Dutch colony . . . . 74,75 

given to Duke of York 76 

taken by English 76 

New 6r'le-an§, battle of 160 

British attack 158-160 

Farragut captures 199, 213 

founded 41, 98, 99 

given to Spain 107 

New Swe'den 75 

New York, English colony 77 

gives "back lands " to Congress .... 145 

New York city, British leave 142 

taken by British 127 

tea ships at 118 

Washington inaugurated in 150 

Ngs Per cgs Indians 227 

Ni-ag'a-ra, Fort 108 

Nl'fld, Columbus's ship 9, 12 



PAOB 

Nor'fo/k Navy Yfird, burned 209 

North Ciir-o-li'na, colonial life in 84 

gives " back lands " to Congress .... 145 

joins Confederacy 196 

pirates in 86 

North Da-ko'ta, admitted to Union .... 229 

Lewis and Clark in 165 

Northwest, opened to civilization . . 223-227 

the new 228-231 

Northwest Territory 146 

lands sold to settlers 162 

Nor-wt-'gi-an settlers 230, 231 

No'va Sso'tia (-shi-a) 97, 99 

Nug'ces River 180 

Nul-li-fi-ca'tion Act 187 

0'gl«-thorp«, James 87, 88 

O-hl'o, admitted to Union 163 

Ohio River, life and trade on 169 

Ohio valley, French and English in 100, 101, 103 

Oklahoma, admitted to Union 244 

" Old Colony," Plymouth called .... 63 

Old North Church 121 

Old South Meetinghouse 117 

O'ma-ha, railroad built from 223 

On-ta'ri-o, Lake 34 

Oquendo (o-ken'do), wreck of 240 

Or'e-gon, admitted to Union 223 

boundary dispute 179, 180 

Os-ce-o'la, Indian chief 226 

O'tis, General, in Manila 242 

Ot'ta-wa 40 

Pacific railroads 223 

Pii'los, Columbus at 8, 9, 12 

Pam'li-co Sound 206 

Pan-a-ma', Isthmus of, discovered .... 14 

Par'is, treaty of 142 

Pas'cu-ii Flo-ri'da 24 

Pa-troong' 74 

Pe-kin', allied armies capture 243 

Pen-in su-lar Campaign in Civil War . . . 199 
Penn, William, proprietor of Pennsylvania 78, 80 

and the Indians 79 

buys Delaware 79 

Penn-syl-vfi'ni-a, backwoodsmen of . . . 108 

Scotch-Irish settlers in 81, 82 

settlement of 78-82 

Pe-nob'scot Bay 93 

Pen-sa-c6'la, taken by Spain 144 

Pe'quot Indians, war with 61, 62 

Per'ry, in battle of Lake Erie 156 

Pe'ter§-burg, siege of 204 



Vlll 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Phil-a-del'phi-a, Congress meets in 119, 126, 152 

Constitutional Convention at 14S 

founded 80 

tea ships at 116,118,119 

Phil'ip-plne Islands 286, 289 

acquisition of 234, 242 

insurrection in 242 

Phil'ip, Indian king, War of 62,63 

Pick'ens, in Revolutionary War 139 

Piek'er-ing, Colonel 121 

Pierce, Franklin, President 193 

Pikes Peak 221 

Pil'grims, and the Indians 59, 67 

found Plymouth 58 

sail from Holland 56 

Pin'ta, Columbus's ship 9,12 

Pinzon (peen-thfm') deserts Columbus. . . 12 

Pirates, in the Bahamas 86 

in the Carolinas 84-87 

Pitts'burg (Fort Pitt) 103,105,108 

Plains of Abraham, battle of Quebec on 105, 106 

Platte River ISO 

Platts'burg, battle of 156 

Plym'outh, added to Massachusetts ... 63 

Pilgrims settle 58 

Po-ea-hon'tas, story of 46, 47 

Po/k. James K., President . . . 178, ISO, 193 

Pon'ce (-thii), General Miles at 242 

Ponce de Leon (da lS-on'), in Florida ... 24 

Pon ti-ac's War 107-109 

Pony express, in the far West. . . . 221,222 

Poor Richard's Almanac 112 

Por'ter, on the Mississippi 213 

Port Hiid'son, battle of 202 

Port Roy'al, captured by Dupont .... 213 
Port Royal, Nova Scotia, captured by English 97 

Porto Ui'co 14,24,236 

acquisition of 234, 242 

General Miles captures 241 

Po to'mac 199 

Pow-ha-t;ui', Indian chief 46 

Prfif'r/e dtk Ch/0n' 37 

PreVcott, Colonel, at Bunker Hill .... 124 

Presidents, list of 177, 193, 244 

Prov'i-dence, founded 60 

Pueb'log (pweb-) 22, 28 

Pfi'get Sound 223 

Pii-las'ki, death of 139 

in Revolutionary War 132, 139 

Pii'ri-tans, settle Massachusetts 60 

Put' nam, General Israel, at Bunker Hill . . 124 

Quak'ers, or Friends 77,78 

Que-bec', attacked by colonists 94 



PAGE 

Quebec, fall of 105, 106 

founded ■ . . 33 

province of « 111 

Rad'nor 80 

Railroads, introduced 172 

Pacific, built 223 

Ra'legh (raw'ly), Sir Walter, settlements 

"of 45 

Ra'leij/A, Johnston surrenders at .... 205 

Red I 'loud, Indian chief 227 

Re-demp'tion-ers, in Virginia 49,54 

Re-pub'li-can Party, nominates Lincoln . . 192 

Revere', Paul, ride of 121,122 

RAode Island, charter troubles . . . . 91, 92 

colony established 60 

Rich'mond, Confederate capital 196 

Ri'6 Gran'de. 29, ISO 

Ro-a-noke' Island, first settlements on . . 45 
Rob'ert-son, James, buiblr- frontier fort . . 134 
Rolf*?, John, marries Pocahontas .... 47 

RoOSe'velt, Theodore 24:'.. '.'44 

Ro'se-crans, General, at Chickamauga . . Jo.; 
Ross, Betsy, makes first national fiag . . . 130 

Sac-ra-men 'to, pony express to . . . 221,222 
Sacramento River, settlement on .... 1S2 

St. Au'giis-tlna, built 30 

St. Clair', General, in Indian War .... 225 
St. Law 'rence River, Cartier discovers . . 32 

St. Louis 37 

St. M&'rys, founded 54,55 

Sa'tem, British at 120 

founded 60 

Salt Lake City, built 189 

Sam'o-set, Indian chief 59 

Samp'son, Rear Admiral, blockades Havana 238 

blockades Santiago 24(1 

San Juan (lioo-i'in') 242 

San Sal-va-dor' 11 

SSn'ta F A , founded 30 

Kearney captures 181 

Sdn'ld 3fd-ri'd, Columbus's ship ... 9. 12 
San-ti-5'go dfi Cu'lni, battle of 240 

blockaded 239 

surrender of 241 

Sar-a-to'ga, battle of 130 

8au.« 8te. (sent) Mii'rie 87 

Sa-van'nah, British capture .... 138-140 

founded 88 

Sherman at 208 

Schlgy, Commodore, at Santiago .... 240 
Se^uyl'kill River, Welsh settlers on ... 80 
Scotch High'land-ers, in Carolina .... 88 



INDEX 



IX 



PAGE 

Scotch Highlanders, in Georgia 89 

Scotch-Irish settlers 81 

Scott, General, in Mexican War . . . 180, 181 
Se-ces'sion, of Southern States . . . 193, 196 

Secession, question of 1ST 

Serm»e§, Captain Raphael 208 

Sen'ate 149 

Se-vier', .John, builds frontier fort .... 134 

Sew'ard, Secretary, attacked 210 

Sliaf'ter, General, in Cuba 240 

Shan'non, captures Chesapeake .... 157 

Shen-an-do'ah 199 

Sher'man, Roger, helps frame Declaration of 

Independence 127 

Sherman, William T., march to the sea 203, 204 

Johnston surrenders to 205 

ShI'loh, battle of 198 

Sho-shfi'nees 227 

Si-er'ra Ne-vii'da 186 

Sioux wars 227 

Slav'er-y 174-178 

abolished in North 174 

abolished in United States .... 215-219 

proposed in California 186, 1S7 

struggle for, in Kansas 190, 191 

Slaves, emancipated 217 

in Virginia 49, 54 

Smith, Captain John, at Jamestown . . 45, 46 
Smith, Joseph, founds Mormon sect . . . 188 

South Car-o-li'na, colonial life in 84 

gives " back lands " to Congress .... 145 

federal property in 193, 194 

joins Confederacy 193 

Nullification Act of 1ST 

pirates expelled from 85 

South Company formed 75 

South Da-ko'ta, admitted to Union .... 229 

Southern States, cotton industry in . 174, 175 

denied representation in Congress . 216, 217 

reconstruction of 216, 217 

secession of 193, 196 

tobacco cultivation in 48, 50 

Spain, border trouble with 163 

cruelty to Cubans 238 

cedes Louisiana to France 164 

claims in our country 30, 138 

loses Florida Ill" 

receives Louisiana 107 

regains Florida 144, 145 

sells Florida to United States 166 

war with United States 288-242 

Bpan'iards (-ygrdz), in New World . . . 24-30 

Spanish-American War 238-242 

Spotted Tail, Indian chief 227 



PAGE 

Squan'to, Indian friend of Pilgrims . . . 59,67 

Stamp Act 111-115 

Stamp Act Congress 115 

Stand 'ish, Captain Miles 58 

" Star-Spangled Banner," written . . 157,158 

Starved Rock 40 

Steamboats, first successful . . . . 171, 172 
Ste'phens (-venz), Alexander H., Vice-Presi- 
dent of Confederacy 193 

Steu'ben, Baron, at Valley Forge . . 131, 132 
Stock'ton, Commodore, in California . . . 181 

Ston'ing-ton 62 

Stony Point, Wayne takes 134 

Stwy've-sant, Peter 75, 76 

Sum'ter, in Revolutionary War 139 

Sumter, Fort, Anderson at .... 193-195 

siege and fall of 194, 195 

Sut'ter, Captain J. A 182-184 

Sutter"s Fort 182, 184 

Swedish settlers 75, 230, 231 

Swiss settlers, in Carolina 83 

Taft, William H 244 

Tax-a'tion, of the colonies 111-119 

under the Articles of Confederation . . . 147 

under the Constitution 149 

Tay'lor, Zachary, in Mexican War .... 180 

President 193 

Tea Party, Boston 118 

Tea ships 110-118 

Te-cum'seh, Indian chief 225, 226 

Ten-nes-see', admitted to Union .... 162 

emigration into 161 

frontier life in 135-138 

joins Confederacy 196 

settled 134 

Ter're Haute (hot) 37 

Tex 'as, admitted to Union . . . 178,180,220 

Indians of 27 

joins Confederacy 193 

settled 178 

Vaca in 26 

Thames (temz) River, battle of . . . 156, 226 

Thatch, Robert, pirate 86, 8T 

'17/ uiii 'as, George II., at Chickamauga . . .202 

at Nashville 203 

Ti-en'tsin, captured 243 

Tip-pe-ca-noe , battle of 226 

To-bac'co, cultivation of in South . . . 48,50 

Indians raise 18 

Tobacco plantations, in Maryland .... 55 

in Virginia 50 

To-pe'ku, founded 191 

To-riil', General, surrenders Santiago . . . 241 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Travel, facilities for 146, 171, 172 

Treaty, of America 85 

of Ghent 100 

of Paris 142 

Spanish-American 242 

Tren 'ton, battle of 129 

Turks, interfere with Eastern trade ... 7 
Ty'ler, John, President 177, 178 

United States, growth 232-2311, 164, 100, 178, 181 
occupations of people 140, 'j:'.l 

U'tah, admitted to Union 229 

Mormons in 188, ls9 

territory formed 188 

Va'cii, in Texas 26 

reaches Gulf of California . .... 27 

Val'ley Forge, American Army at . . 130-132 

Van liu'ren, Martin, President 177 

Ver-mont', admitted to Union 102 

Ves-puc'ei (-poot'ehee), A-me-ri'go, America 

named for 14 

Vioks'burg, fall of 202 

Vin-cennes,' 37, 137 

battle at 138 

surrender of ... . 137 

Vir-gin'i-a, backwoodsmen of 108 

colony of 45-54 

divided 190 

first slaves brought to 49 

gives " back lands " to Congresa .... 145 

indented servants in 49 

joins Confederacy 196 

opposes Stamp Act 114, 115 

women sent to 49 

Wads'worth, Captain, hides Connecticut 

charter 91 

Wain' pum, uses of 19,20 

War, Civil 198-218 

Creek Indian 159 

French and Indian 103-107, 220 

King George's 99 

King Philip's 62, 68 

Kins: William's 92-95 

Mexican 180, 181 

Modoc 227 

naval, with France 153 



PAGE 

War, of 1812 156-160 

Pequot 61 

Pontiac's 107-109 

Sioux 227 

Spanish-American 238-242 

Wash'iug-ton, admitted to Union .... 229 

Washington, George 102, 103 

at Constitutional Convention 148 

in French and Indian War .... 103-1(15 
in Revolutionary War .... 124-133, 142 

President 160, 177 

recalled to command of army 152 

Washington city, British burn 157 

founded 152 

WS-tan'ga River 134 

Wayne, Anthony, in Indian war . . . 103,225 

takes Stony Point 134 

Web'ster, Daniel, debate with Calhoun . . 187 
Welsh Bar'o-ny, in Pennsylvania .... 80 

Welsh settlers in Pennsylvania 80 

West, great migrations to 220 

mail service in 221-228 

settlement of 220-227 

West India Company 73, 74 

West In 'dzeg, explorations in 24 

West Point, in Revolution .... 140, 141 
West Virginia, admitted to Union .... 228 

formation of 196 

Wheal growing in the West . . 224, 229, 230 
Whit'ney, Eli, invents cotton gin .... 175 

Wilderness, battle of the 204 

Wil'liams, John, captivity of 96,97 

Williams, Roger fin, 01 

Wil'ming-ton, blockade runners at ... . 207 

Wilson, Woodrow 244 

Win 'throp, Governor John 70 

Wis-con'sin, admitted to Union 186 

Indian War in 226 

Wolfe, death of 100 

takes Quebec 108 

Wy-o'ming, admitted to Union 229 

" Tan'kee Doo'dle," national song .... 153 

York'town, battle of 142 

McClellan captures 199 

Zanc, Elizabeth 181 

Zu/ni Indians 22, 23, 28, 227 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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